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The trial of six men accused of being key figures in the notorious "DZ Mafia" opened on Monday in southern France, pulling back the curtain on a ruthless organized crime syndicate that has fueled a bloody drug war across the Mediterranean port city of Marseille.
“The Court of Appeals in Aix-en-Provence regularly hears high-profile cases involving organized crime, but this is the first major case involving the key figures of the DZ Mafia,” Baptiste Barles, the court’s communications director, told OCCRP.
Appearing before the Assize Court of Aix-en-Provence, the defendants face charges stemming from a 2019 double murder that authorities say was a calculated underworld hit. The proceedings, expected to last three weeks, mark a significant moment in France’s ongoing battle against a wave of hyper-violent narcotics gangs.
The case centers on the brazen killings of Farid Tir, 29, and Mohamed Bendjaghlouli, who were found with fatal gunshot wounds in a hotel room on Aug. 30, 2019. Investigators maintain that Mr. Tir, a prominent figure in Marseille’s illicit drug trade, was the primary target of the assassination.
Among the six men currently standing trial are Amine Oualane and Gabriel Ory, who prosecutors allege are the current leaders of the DZ Mafia. The syndicate, whose name is a nod to the alpha-2 country code for Algeria—highlighting the origins of its founding members—was born in the housing projects of Marseille but has since metastasized, expanding its operations to several cities across France.
The syndicate's violence has sparked a broader judicial reckoning. Next fall, the same court will hear another trial tied to the DZ Mafia: the murder of a brother of Amine Kessaci, a political and civil society activist involved in the fight against drug trafficking in Marseille.
Authorities accuse the group of orchestrating a sprawling criminal enterprise that includes drug trafficking, kidnapping, and contract killings.
The Rise of "Narchomicides"
The trial unfolds against the backdrop of a grinding turf war in Marseille, where rival factions are fighting violently for control of lucrative drug-selling territories. The bloodshed has become so pervasive, and the collateral damage so high, that Dominique Laurens, the city's former public prosecutor, coined a new term for the crisis: "narchomicides," or murders directly tied to the drug trade.
In response to the escalating violence, the French state has recently intensified its crackdown on the syndicate's infrastructure.
In early March, a sweeping police action dubbed Operation "Octopus" led to the arrest of 43 individuals suspected of playing significant roles within the DZ Mafia. During the raids, authorities seized assets valued at more than 4 million euros (about $4.6 million).
Broader investigations have also exposed the group’s deep financial networks. A recent cross-border money laundering probe uncovered the syndicate's international reach, resulting in the seizure of over 40 million euros ($46.3 million) across France and Italy.
The French Gendarmerie, which mobilized heavily for the recent raids, indicated that the state is changing its approach to dismantling these cartels.
"This crackdown illustrates the gendarmerie’s shift in strategy in the fight against these structured criminal networks embedded at the heart of society," the agency said in a statement.
