The southern French city of Marseille was shaken last week by two drug-related killings, including the murder of a 15-year-old boy who was "stabbed 50 times" and burned alive, prosecutors said on Sunday.
The port city on the Mediterranean coast is witnessing a turf war for control of the highly profitable drug market between various gangs including the so-called DZ Mafia and Yoda.
The problem was once again in the public eye Sunday, as Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone told reporters that the victims and perpetrators of such violence were getting increasingly younger.
A 15-year-old was murdered on Wednesday in a case Bessone described as one of "unprecedented savagery", then on Friday, a 36-year-old football player, Nessim Ramdane, was shot and killed "in cold blood" by a 14-year-old in a case linked to Wednesday's murder.
The two latest cases show that the number of drug-related killings in Marseille has risen to 17 since the start of the year.
Shot in the head
The 15-year-old teenager was spotted by members of a rival gang who searched him and discovered that he was carrying a gun. To punish him, they repeatedly stabbed him, then set him on fire.
"He was stabbed 50 times and taken to the Fonscolombes housing estate, where, according to the autopsy, he was burned alive," said Bessone.
The drug dealers turned to social media to recruit a 14-year-old minor to carry out a revenge attack and kill a member of the Blacks gang, promising to pay him €50,000.
This 14-year-old then hired football player Ramdane, who also worked as a private-hire driver to support his family, the prosecutor said.
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The minor, accompanied by a friend, asked the driver "to drop them off and wait for them", but he apparently "didn't comply", Bessone said.
The teenager then "shot him in the back of the head", he added.
The minor was taken into custody and admitted shooting the driver, but insisted that the shot had "gone off accidentally". He has been placed in detention in a regional prison for minors.
Marseille's drug lords have been increasingly recruiting foot soldiers with ads on social media, "outsourcing" street dealing to youngsters known as "jobbeurs".
Bessone said on Sunday that young boys were responding to ads not only to sell cannabis resin but also to kill "without any remorse or reflection".
Ongoing tragedies
In September, Franck Rastoul, public prosecutor at the Aix-en-Provence court of appeal, warned of the scourge of drug-related violence.
"It is imperative that we fully understand the ravages of drug trafficking, which undermines the very foundations of our society," he said.
Rastoul said young people were "intoxicated by easy drug money" to the point of "total disregard for human life".
Drug-related violence caused a record number of 49 deaths in Marseille last year.
In March, President Emmanuel Macron promised actions to solve the social problem.
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He said he'd put in place an "unprecedented operation" against drug trafficking in the southern port city, during a surprise visite ahead of the Olympic games.
These events show the solutions might not be efficient enough yet.
Marseille, France's second-largest city but also one of its poorest, has been plagued by drug-related violence for years but inhabitants say the problem is getting worse.
(with AFP)
