A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #368 - Politics - Working-Class Neighborhoods: Drug Trafficking and State Violence, Who Feeds Whom? (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Since the murder of Mehdi Kessaci in Marseille, the issue of drug 
trafficking in the city has once again become a hot topic on every TV 
channel. The arguments and solutions heard in this debate are those of 
the right and far right: more police, more repression, less immigration. 
This article aims to initiate a discussion so that libertarians can 
reflect on and contribute to this debate. ----- Drug trafficking in 
France will result in 110 deaths and 350 injuries in 2024, EUR7 billion 
in revenue in 2023, around one hundred importers, several thousand 
mid-level dealers and network leaders, and approximately 200,000 young 
people exploited on the ground. Of these 200,000 young people, 20,000 
are in Marseille, and it is estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 are 
in situations of slavery (locked up and forced to work for others)[1]. 
While this city on the Mediterranean coast is often singled out as the 
one where the most violence is observed, it is too often forgotten that 
a third of its population lives below the poverty line and that crime, 
particularly drug trafficking, is inextricably linked to municipal 
political and financial management.

Marseille's youth under fire
But first, a little history. In April 2006, Farid Berhama, known as "the 
roaster," was assassinated in Marseille. He had succeeded Francis "the 
Belgian," himself an heir to the French Connection, who controlled most 
of Marseille's drug trade. Upon his death, clans emerged, each with its 
own brands, shops, products, and increasingly, franchises. Clan leaders 
recruited dealers through online networks, targeting a vulnerable youth 
isolated from legal professional channels.

These young, "uberized" drug traffickers-responsible for their own 
businesses at the expense of any protection-were the first to be 
sacrificed. They were executed as examples in the 2010s during a war 
over drug dealing spots, culminating in 2023 with the clash between the 
DZ Mafia and the Yoda Clan. The true leaders kept their hands relatively 
clean, hiring interchangeable auxiliaries from outside the housing 
projects, or even the city itself.

It was in this context that Brahim Kessaci, Amine Kessaci's older 
brother, died in 2021. His brother then became involved in the fight 
against drug trafficking and, above all, in supporting victims. He was 
placed under police protection following threats he received in 
retaliation for his activism. But on November 13th, his younger brother 
Mehdi was murdered at only 20 years old.

While this tragic murder moved the nation, it is clear that the same 
cannot be said for the murder of 15-year-old Adberahim, found burned two 
weeks later, videos of which circulated on social media. Nor did we see 
the entire country rise up in outrage over the deaths of 25-year-old 
Éléonore, killed in a parking lot, or 43-year-old Charlotte, killed in 
front of one of her five daughters. Nor did this lead to any 
acceleration of the trial, which has been pending for two years, in the 
case of 24-year-old Socayna, killed in her bedroom. Once again, the 
burned body of a 17-year-old was found on January 1st, and several other 
victims have already been counted in 2026. There was concern about the 
murder of a relative of a candidate in the elections (EELV, NFP), and 
his commitment to and respect for the police and judicial forces was 
highlighted, but neither the social system that offers only survival to 
the housing projects, nor the state's manufacture of violence to 
reinforce racist stereotypes, was questioned.

While we wish to reiterate our support for the victims' families and our 
commitment to preserving a dignified memory of them, far removed from 
the degraded image fabricated by the media and reactionary forces, we 
cannot be satisfied with a purely repressive and security-focused response.

Four walls or four planks? Beyond the collateral victims mentioned 
above, the figures primarily concern people deliberately murdered within 
these trafficking networks. The myth of being able to "make a fortune" 
in drug trafficking is often perpetuated, but it's forgotten that no one 
chooses to die at 15. These same young people whose burned or riddled 
bodies we find have themselves witnessed the deaths of their classmates, 
neighborhood friends, and family members... There is no doubt that 
turning to drug trafficking is not the result of a "choice" to follow 
the same path, but rather of having only one possible way out of a 
precarious situation orchestrated by a global political system, the big 
winner in this story. In Marseille, there are between 15 and 30 murders 
a year linked to drug trafficking, sometimes more - 49 deaths in 2023. 
The same social class is systematically bereaved: the one abandoned by 
public policy for the rest of the year[2].

In 2012, 18 police officers from the BAC (Anti-Crime Brigade) in the 
northern districts of Marseille were charged with racketeering and drug 
trafficking.

Wikimedia/Jeanne Menjoulet
The 2024 national commission of inquiry into drug trafficking led to the 
creation of a new anti-drug prosecutor's office and allocated new 
resources to the law enforcement system. However, it made no mention of 
recommending improvements to living conditions or employment policies 
for working-class neighborhoods. Faced with the devastating effects of 
drugs in Marseille, organizations are advocating for alternative, more 
human-scale solutions: prevention of drug use and social cohesion as 
opposed to drug dealing. In Belsunce, a proposed Addiction Treatment 
Center (HSA)[3]requested by associations and community groups has once 
again been rejected by the prefect. Residents are mobilizing to maintain 
a presence in their neighborhoods and prevent drug trafficking from 
taking root, or are organizing against the lack of access to safe and 
decent housing, which is driving more and more people to homelessness, 
whether to live, work, or often both. Living conditions and drug 
trafficking are denounced jointly by residents' groups, who are well 
aware of the close links that make them coexist[4].

The media discuss the "Mexicanization"[5]of France, drawing parallels 
with the cartels. Yet, according to experts, the DZ mafia is a mafia in 
name only and does not have the social, political, and economic weight 
of its Mexican or Italian counterparts. It is far from having 
infiltrated Marseille's political life. So why make it public enemy 
number one? Does the horror of its actions justify the eternal war on 
drugs, which has gone from one failure to another for 50 years, at the 
rate of a new law every six months?

Fighting Corruption and Rethinking the System
For all these years of drug-related murders, the only ministers who 
visit us in Marseille are those of Justice and the Interior. Yet, those 
working on the ground are constantly demanding the presence of the 
Ministers of Health, Urban Development, and Education. Because drugs are 
first and foremost a health issue. It's an addiction that is currently 
exploding in all professions where workers are under ever-increasing 
pressure. The traffickers' ease in recruiting is linked to the failing 
education system, the lack of jobs and public services, and the 
ridiculous public transportation system, which make dealing the most 
likely prospect for many young people.

Moreover, who do we find at the bottom of the drug dealing ladder? The 
most vulnerable among them all, and all the so-called unaccompanied 
minors (UAMs). Those who have already risked their lives to cross half 
the world. Once they arrive here, the departmental council abandons them 
to the streets, neglecting the protection they are owed and leaving them 
at the mercy of criminal organizations.

Journalist Philippe Pujol speaks of "monsters" to define the system that 
allows criminal groups to flourish around drug trafficking. He points to 
the total neglect of working-class neighborhoods, which are on the front 
lines of policies dismantling the social, healthcare, and educational 
systems in France, compounded by the post-colonial racist treatment of 
the populations relegated to these areas.

Tried in France since 2016, supervised drug consumption rooms (HSA) are 
struggling to become widespread, undermined by security-focused rhetoric 
that criminalizes drug users: only two rooms are currently operational, 
in Paris and Strasbourg.

Wikimedia/Claude Truong-Ngoc
If a mafia-like system, a "monster," exists in Marseille, it is not 
located in the northern districts. He has been comfortably ensconced in 
the offices of the mayor, the metropolitan authority, the department, 
and their affiliated services for decades. He has no political 
affiliation and is quite comfortable with both the right wing and the 
socialists. He has made his fortune in real estate deals. He has 
skillfully exploited housing policies (the shortage of social housing, 
neighborhood renovation plans) to acquire properties at rock-bottom 
prices and become a slumlord. He has ensured that his friends and family 
benefited from all the major projects in the department. He rewarded 
them by offering them fictitious jobs in the public sector and the 
administration. We're talking about the city hall team during Gaudin's 
time and the departmental council led by the socialist Guérini. These 
underhanded dealings and corruptions rendered all urban policies 
regarding housing, development, and the fight against inequality 
ineffective, leaving France's second-largest city, after decades, with 
completely inadequate, sometimes dilapidated, or nonexistent infrastructure.

Defending Social Equality
The issue of drugs and their economics is rarely discussed or considered 
within activist circles. The question of legalization is seldom 
addressed politically. Yet, it would have the merit of cutting off 
traffickers' income and placing users in a system where work could be 
done to combat addiction. However, the focus on individual consumption 
and legalization are not objectives in themselves. In our vision of 
society, it is legitimate to question what drugs represent as a tool for 
social regulation and psychological anesthetic. It is also essential to 
consider the overall framework of the deadly, capitalist drug trade 
economy, whose money laundering systems are the same as those used for 
tax evasion.

We could also examine the people who profit from this economy. Let's 
continue to dispel our preconceived notions: drug trafficking does not 
benefit the low-level operatives of the working class. The mule, the 
lookout, the collector, or the dealer-these are all roles played by 
young people who, often, no longer work for themselves but to repay a 
debt created out of thin air, a debt they will never escape. The drug 
traffickers at the head of these networks of misery are not one of us. 
They are nothing more than bosses who exploit the vulnerability of 
others with unimaginable violence: young people who prostitute 
themselves, who beat, torture, leg-break, or kill other young people, 
all for control of a sales point or the acquisition of a competing brand.

Faced with all this, how should we react? As libertarians, we cannot 
support a solution that imprisons minors, and our task here is to 
reiterate that a uniform response to all levels of drug trafficking is 
far from our ideals. How can we believe that a drug dealer in the 
neighborhood would know the identities of those at the head of a 
multinational operation and that their arrest would serve a global fight 
against drug trafficking? What then are we to think of a police force 
that obeys only its own objectives as a regulatory force, if not that it 
will never be the answer to social problems?

While reclaiming the streets piece by piece is important, it cannot be 
the only solution. Again, drug trafficking follows the principle of the 
weed: it grows where there is space. It is a symptom of a sick society. 
Faced with this phenomenon, a multifaceted response is needed: 
reinvestment in working-class neighborhoods, expansion of public 
services, investment in youth support programs, construction of 
transportation lines connecting to the city center, building decent 
housing, employment policies, combating discrimination, health 
prevention, and so on. As for drug traffickers, neither the Anti-Crime 
Brigade (BAC) nor "clean-up" operations will stop them, but rather the 
pursuit of money laundering flows. It is urgent that we commit to the 
fight against drugs and their networks, and that we finally raise 
libertarian voices against them alongside working-class neighborhoods, 
in order to foster alternatives to far-right rhetoric on the subject.

UCL Marseille

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[1]Regarding the figures cited in this paragraph: "True or false: Drug 
trafficking, is this criminal sector responsible for hundreds of deaths 
each year?" "," France Info, November 19, 2025; and Philippe Pujol, 
Cramés: les enfants du Monstre (Burned: The Children of the Monster), 
Julliard, 2024.

[2]Philippe Pujol, La Fabrique du monstre: 10 ans d'immersion dans les 
quartiers nord de Marseille, la zone la plus pauvre d'Europe (The Making 
of the Monster: 10 Years of Immersion in the Northern Districts of 
Marseille, the Poorest Area in Europe), Les Arènes, 2016.

[3]A HSA (Hospital Support Service) is a drop-in center for drug users, 
providing medical and social support.

[4]On the dual oppression of social and security concerns, see in 
particular the works of Rodgers Dennis and Jensen Stephen, "Gangs, Drug 
Dealing, and Criminal Governance in Marseille, France," European Journal 
of Sociology/Archives Européennes de Sociologie, 2025, and "Marseille 
from the Inside: An Exploration of Urban Violence," The Conversation, 
March 20, 2024.

[5]Expression used by Franck Alisio, National Rally candidate for mayor 
of Marseille.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Quartiers-populaires-Trafic-de-drogue-et-violences-d-Etat-qui-se-nourrit-de-qui
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