France deploys elite police unit to Marseille to tackle deadly drugs crimewave

The CRS 8 unit, which specialises in combating urban violence, will be deployed to the southern city over the next few days and carry out targeted operations against drug crime syndicates. 

The unit will stay in Marseille "for about a week, with the aim of carrying out crackdowns on drug trafficking, particularly at drug dealing points", according to the officials. 

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had already sent the police unit in February to combat drug trafficking. This unit can be deployed 24 hours a day "in 15 minutes within a radius of 300 kilometres in the event of serious public order disturbances and urban violence", Darmanin explained, when it was first set up in 2021. 

Searching for drugs and weapons, this 200-strong unit will try to hinder drugs traffickers to reduce their sales.

A bloody war between two gangs

Since mid-July, 12 people have died as a result of drug trafficking in Marseille. "This is no more no less than the resumption of the conflict between 'Yoda' and 'DZ Mafia'", declared Frédérique Camilleri, the Prefect of Police of Marseille, at a recent press conference.

The ongoing war pits two two powerful networks known as 'DZ Mafia' and 'Yoda' against each other. Since the beginning of the year, their fight has been responsible for 80% of homicides or attempted homicides by organised gangs in Marseille, according to the Prefect of Police.

Camilleri is concerned about the new form this conflict is taking: "We are entering a new world of drug-related violence, with murders being staged on social networks", she explained.In February, a 17-year-old teenager died after being lynched by around thirty people in the Paternelle housing estate, at the heart of drug-related violence. The attack was filmed and broadcast live on Snapchat.