Félix Bingui, alleged leader of one of the main clans of Marseille drug trafficking, “Yoda”, will be extradited to France within 48 hours. The Franco-Moroccan is notably accused of criminal association.
The alleged leader of the “Yoda” clan, one of the main Marseille drug trafficking gangs, will be extradited to France within 48 hours, between Tuesday and Wednesday, after his arrest in Morocco (March 8, 2024), according to information from the daily The Parisian.
The return to France of Félix Bingui, 34, on the list of the most wanted French drug traffickers, had been awaited for many months. “Victory against narcobanditism”, rejoiced in particular about X, the Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin. He is expected under heavy escort at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport in the middle of the week and “has accepted his extradition”, assures his lawyer, Me Philippe Ohayon to AFP.
“One of the biggest drug traffickers in our country”
“Minister of the Interior, I obtained the arrest in Morocco of one of the biggest drug traffickers in our country, Félix Bingui, known as ‘Le Chat’. Today, as Minister of Justice, I thank very sincerely the Moroccan authorities for having initiated the extradition process, which will finally allow French justice to judge him”, also declared the Minister of Justice. As soon as he arrives on French soil, he should be placed in detention and be confronted with the arrest warrants issued against him: “importation of narcotics by an organized gang, transport, detention, acquisition, transfer of narcotics, criminal association (…) money laundering and non-proofing of resources.
Three years in prison and a considerable weight in Marseille
The Franco-Moroccan is suspected of being at the origin of a deadly war with his main rival in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) concerning drug trafficking, the DZ Mafia. According to Le Parisien, of the 49 people killed in the Marseille city in 2023, 35 were “directly linked to this conflict between the two criminal organizations”. Murders sometimes committed by young children “hired as hitmen by the DZ or Yoda, to terrorize the opposing clan”, continues the newspaper.
Yoda executives as well as Félix Bingui’s brother-in-law were even eliminated by a DZ commando in Spain. If Yoda’s main competitor now seems to have a territorial advantage, “The Cat” nonetheless remains extremely feared, even feared.
In 2017, he was sentenced to three years in prison with a committal warrant for criminal conspiracy and arms trafficking. He was active with the Carmes gang in the city center of Marseille, an organization whose influence was considerable in the city for around ten years. During the Covid-19 crisis, Le Parisien recalls that he had managed to “supply himself with drugs thanks to merchandise trucks authorized to circulate and by organizing apartments to organize the resale of drugs”.
Dangerous, feared and taken seriously by the rival clan, the boss of “Yoda” nevertheless remains relatively clever. While the latter is in the process of being extradited, his lawyer says he hopes “that the magistrates in charge of the case will approach the subject (of his client) with serenity and in complete independence, while respecting the rights of the defense” with the AFP.