Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: FIORA GARENZI / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 16:15 p.m., November 25, 2023

The Marseille prosecutor's office announced on Saturday the indictment of nine people in Marseille, as part of an investigation for criminal association and drug trafficking. A police operation was carried out in the Paris and Lyon regions but also in the Aisne.

Nine people have been indicted in Marseille as part of an investigation for criminal association and drug trafficking after a police operation in the Paris and Lyon regions and in the Aisne region, the Marseille prosecutor's office announced on Saturday. One of those charged has been placed under judicial supervision, while the other eight are in pre-trial detention, the prosecutor's office said.

The brigade for the repression of banditry of the zonal directorate of the judicial police of Marseille and the Central Office for the Fight against Organized Crime, carried out last Monday a vast police operation in the Paris suburbs, in the Lyon region and in the Aisne. This operation took place after the opening in May in Marseille of a judicial investigation on charges of participation in a criminal association with a view to the preparation of crimes (murders by an organized gang), participation in a criminal association with a view to the preparation of offences punishable by 10 years' imprisonment (drug trafficking) as well as failure to report a crime.

21 people arrested last Monday

The investigations carried out have brought to light "the functioning and organization of a criminal group both with regard to drug trafficking, as well as the preparation of violent actions for the control of Marseille deal points or the recruitment of young adults or minors, particularly from the Paris region," the prosecutor's office said. A total of 21 people, including a minor, were arrested on Monday, but only seven men and two women were brought before the investigating judge and charged.

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A source close to the case said earlier this week that these people were suspected of belonging to the Yoda clan, which has a strong presence in the Marseille region and is fighting over the deal points, in particular with the rival group "DZ mafia". The vendetta of these two groups of drug traffickers is responsible for a hecatomb in the second city of France, where 47 people, including collateral victims, have been killed since the beginning of the year.