What is the DZ Mafia, which pulls the strings of drugs in Marseille ?

This French drug cartel, born in the northern districts of Marseille , returned to the heart of current events this weekend.

“Unprecedented savagery.” These are the words used on Sunday, October 6, by the public prosecutor of Marseille, Nicolas Bessone, who was taking stock of the two narchomicides that occurred last week, on October 2 and 4, in Marseille. Among them, the murder, on Friday, of a VTC driver by a 14-year-old teenager. “The facts are part of a context that is that of the current conflict opposing, in the 3rd arrondissement of Marseille, the “DZ” Mafia ” and the so-called “Blacks” clan of the city Félix Pyat, notably for taking control of the deal point of the cityé du Moulin-de-Mai", highlighted Nicolas Bessone. 

Founded by Mehdi Abdelatif L., known as “Tic”, in 2010, the DZ Mafia gang originates from the city of Paternelle, located in the 14th arrondissement of Marseille. Its activities include: drug trafficking of course, but also arms trafficking, arson, extortion, kidnapping, and murder. According to lawyer Alain Lhote, who defended several members of the organization questioned by TF1 Info, pimping, counterfeiting and even bank card fraud are also part of the activities developed in recent years. Very recently, the DZ Mafia has even started to provide hitmen.

The criminal organization is now described as sprawling. On the narcotics side alone, the DZ Mafia's drugs are sold at the foot of many towers in Marseille and bring in tens of thousands of euros every day. “The DZ Mafia are semi-wholesalers who pay off a lot of local sellers,” Philippe Pujol, journalist and author of , confirmed to TF1Cramés: ​​the children of the monster. 

Several hundred thousand euros in turnover

If the DZ Mafia has already made a lot of noise in 2023, it is for the murderous war that opposed it to another clan with which it has nevertheless cohabited for a long time: Yoda. At the end of January 2024, the prosecutor, echoed by Le Figaro, reported that 73% of intentional homicides by organized gangs and other attempted homicides recorded in Marseille were linked to the DZ Mafia and Yoda. A war that seems to have ended with a victory for the DZ Mafia over Yoda. Today, it controls more than half of the drug dealing points in the city. phocéenne.

But the influence of the DZ Mafia is not limited to Marseille. Over the past year, crimes and new drug trafficking linked to the criminal organization have been reported throughout the south of the country, from Séte to Nice, via Montpellier, Néicirc;mes and Avignon. Better still, its activities are increasingly extending north to Dijon and Rennes, and even further to Brussels. While it is difficult to estimate the organization's overall turnover, specialists speak of several hundred thousand euros.