Marseille: A 14-year-old hitman!

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Two drug-related homicides involving minors have taken place in Marseille in the space of 48 hours. The public prosecutor denounced the “rare savagery” and expressed alarm at the fact that the perpetrators were getting younger.

In a press conference held on Sunday October 6, Marseille’s public prosecutor, Nicolas Bessone, gave an update on two “closely linked” murder cases that shook the city last Wednesday and Friday. The crimes took place in the context of a war between two drug gangs for control of a drug dealing point.

15-year-old “burned alive

The first tragedy occurred at 3.40 am on Wednesday. A 15-year-old minor, recruited via social networks for 2,000 euros, was to carry out an action of intimidation against a presumed member of the rival clan. The operation went badly wrong:

  • The youngster was intercepted by members of the opposing gang.
  • He was stabbed 50 times
  • He was then “burned alive” in the Fonscolombes housing estate.

VTC driver shot dead by 14-year-old suspect

The second murder took place at 4:20 am on Friday. It was a revenge killing orchestrated from prison:

  • A 14-year-old minor was recruited for 50,000 euros
  • His target was a rival gang member
  • The young man finally shot his VTC driver in the head
  • The victim, 36-year-old Nessim Ramdane, was an “outstanding footballer” with no links to drug trafficking.

Judicial warns of “ultra-younger” criminals

Prosecutor Nicolas Bessone highlighted several worrying points:

  • the very young age of the suspects (14 and 15)
  • the “total loss of reference points” in these clan wars
  • The involvement of inmates who continue to orchestrate crimes from their cells.

Three investigations have been opened and several indictments are pending. The Marseilles justice system now refers to these crimes as “narcomicides”, underlining the direct link with drug trafficking, which is rampant in certain parts of the city.



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