A figure of Marseille drug banditry arrested in Morocco.

The alleged leader of the Yoda gang, Félix Bingui, was arrested on Friday in Morocco, Gérald Darmanin announced on Saturday March 9, confirming information from the newspaper Le Parisien.

“One of the biggest Marseille drug traffickers has been arrested in Morocco. Bravo to the police officers who are tirelessly continuing the fight against drug trafficking,” the Minister of the Interior wrote on X.

“A big blow has been dealt today to drug banditry thanks to our cooperation with the Moroccan authorities, whom I thank.”

The public prosecutor of Marseille, Nicolas Bessone, confirmed to AFP the arrest in Casablanca of Félix Bingui, 33 years old.

He was the subject of an arrest warrant from a Marseille investigating judge for "importing narcotics in an organized gang, transport, detention, acquisition, transfer of narcotics, criminal association (...) laundering and not justification of resources,” the prosecution said in a press release.

See alsoGang war in Marseille: two rival gangs behind the outbreak of violence

Bloody year 2023 in Marseille against a backdrop of drug trafficking

A turf war for control of deal points between his Yoda gang and a rival group called "DZ Mafia" has bloodied the city of Marseille, particularly last year.

The year 2023 was, in fact, the bloodiest in Marseille with 49 people killed, including four collateral victims, and 123 injured, in violence linked to drug trafficking.

Some 35 of these “narchomicides” were directly linked to these rivalries between two clans, according to Pascal Bonnet, deputy to the judicial police in the south of France.

With AFP

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