Drug gangs in Marseille are luring vulnerable young people with promises of easy money, trapping them in a cycle of drug dealing, brutality, and exploitation. Official figures indicate that over 10,000 children were involved in drug trafficking in France during 2025.
The city's most powerful gang, DZ Mafia, is reportedly recruiting young people from across France not only to sell drugs but also to carry out kidnappings, torture, and murder. These young recruits are seen as easy to corrupt and expendable by gang leaders, who often control operations from prison or overseas.
The expanding illegal drugs market in France, marked by a surge in cocaine imports and high volumes of cannabis and synthetic drugs, has contributed to the rapid growth of these gangs. The head of France's anti-drug trafficking unit, Dimitri Zoulas, states that the number of cocaine users in France is expected to reach two million, a significant increase from 600,000 in 2017.
The human cost of this exploitation is evident in cases such as that of Hugo, who ran away from home at 15 and was later found with money and cannabis in Marseille. Several years later, in 2023, he died from a bullet wound to the head, with police suspecting his involvement with a gang in the Quartier Nord area.