SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

French drug gang leader arrested in Morocco: officials

The alleged leader of a major drug gang from the southern French port city of Marseille has been arrested in Morocco, French authorities announced on Saturday.

Police officers are seen in the northern district of in Marseille
Police officers are seen in the northern district of in Marseille, southern France in 2023. An alleged leader of a major drug gang in the port city has been arrested in Morocco. (Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP)

Marseille, France’s second-largest city but also one of its poorest metropoles, has been hit by drug-related violence.

“One of Marseille’s biggest drug traffickers was arrested in Morocco. Bravo to the police officers who tirelessly continue the fight against drug trafficking,” French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

He thanked the authorities of Morocco, saying “a big blow” had been dealt to drug trafficking.

Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone told AFP that Felix Bingui, 33, had been detained in the port city of Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city.

Bingui is believed to be the leader of Yoda, one of Marseille’s main drug gangs.

According to a source, the arrest was the result of months-long cooperation between French and Moroccan officials.

The gritty Mediterranean city’s northern neighbourhoods, notorious for their rundown streets and housing estates, are seen as the hub of the narcotics trade.

The city has in recent years witnessed a turf war for control of the highly profitable drug market between Yoda and another major clan known as DZ Mafia.

According to a source close to the investigation, Bingui regularly shuttled back and forth between France and Morocco until the outbreak of the turf war with DZ Mafia in February, 2023.

Last year, 49 people were killed and more than 120 received injuries in drug-related violence between rival gangs in Marseille.

A notorious drug smuggler, Karim Harrat, was extradited from Morocco to France in 2023.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

CRIME

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The head of France's top cinema institution Dominique Boutonnat denied sexually assaulting his godson as he went on trial Friday in a case that has led to calls for him to step down.

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The trial comes as French cinema reels from a renewed #MeToo reckoning that has seen several big names, including acting legend Gerard Depardieu, accused of sexual abuse.

READ ALSO: French actor Gérard Depardieu to be tried for sexual assault in October

Activists have denounced Boutonnat’s continued leadership of the National Centre of Cinema (CNC), whose role includes overseeing measures to curb sexual violence in the industry.

His godson accuses him of trying to masturbate him during a holiday in Greece in 2020 when he was 19.

“I looked at him to find my godfather and that’s when I saw someone completely different… It was someone using me to masturbate,” the godson, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court.

Boutonnat responded in court that it was his godson who had initiated the situation and kissed him.

“I feel bad about leaving an ambiguous situation, but to say there was a sexual assault is false,” he told the court.

He was placed under investigation in February 2021 but still reappointed by the government as head of the CNC in July 2022.

Training to prevent abuse has in recent months become obligatory for films seeking public funding via the CNC.

The CNC told AFP that the case against Boutonnat came from “the private sphere” and had no relation to its activities.

SHOW COMMENTS