/s3/static.nrc.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/14103531/141125BUI_2023419741_AmineKessaci.jpg)
Marseille, France – Amine Kessaci is mourning the loss of his younger brother, the latest victim in Marseille’s ongoing drug-related violence. The brother was shot and killed Friday while sitting in a car, succumbing to a chest wound at the scene. The perpetrator, riding a motorcycle, escaped and the vehicle was later found burned out on the city’s northern outskirts. No arrests have been made.
This tragedy comes years after Kessaci lost his older brother to drug crime, and underscores the persistent grip of narcotics trafficking on Marseille despite recent, albeit limited, progress in curbing related homicides. Kessaci has been a vocal activist against the drug trade, advocating for solutions to the violence plaguing his city. The killing of his younger brother intensifies the personal cost of this struggle and highlights the challenges facing efforts to dismantle criminal networks.
A long-running feud between rival gangs, notably Yoda and DZ Mafia, fueled much of the violence in recent years. While a cessation of that conflict in 2024 led to a decrease in drug-related murders within Marseille-falling to twenty-the broader picture across France remains grim. Nationally, 110 people died consequently of narcotics trafficking in 2024, according to the Ministry of the Interior. The examination into the younger Kessaci’s murder is ongoing.
