{"id":2495,"date":"2026-07-26T12:59:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T12:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/07\/26\/gangland-france-can-the-authorities-do-anything-about-the-migrant-mafia\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T12:59:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T12:59:47","slug":"gangland-france-can-the-authorities-do-anything-about-the-migrant-mafia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=2495","title":{"rendered":"Gangland France: Can the authorities do anything about the migrant mafia?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As drugs keep flooding into Europe, a new generation of gangs in France is resorting to new methods to expand their empire<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is France becoming a new Mexico? While gangland killings are increasingly common across the country \u2013 even in places such as Nantes, which was considered the most pleasant French city in 2012 \u2013 attacks targeting elected officials are not usual.<\/p>\n

During the night of July 20-21, the mayor of Ales in the south of France, Christophe Rivenq, was exfiltrated from his home by the elite RAID tactical unit (Recherche, Assistance, Intervention, Dissuasion) and put under protection. According to Le Parisien, there was probably a car bomb next to his house. A few days before, Rivenq said his wife found tags on the fence and a letter in the mailbox with two 9 mm bullets and the signature of the DZ Mafia.<\/p>\n

The DZ Mafia is a network of organized criminal groups forming a kind of cartel. It first became famous under this designation in 2023, but everything started long ago in the northern districts of Marseille before expanding \u2013 so far, we know that it is active in France, Belgium, Morocco, and Italy. They are accused of murder, assassination, drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, procuring, and kidnapping.<\/p>\n

The name \u2018DZ Mafia\u2019 refers to the alpha-2 code for Algeria (DZ). The origins of the organization\u2019s founding members and historical sections chiefs couldn\u2019t be clearer. But the group headed by Mehdi Abdelatif Laribi has rivals. Apart from the traditional gangs of gypsies, they fight with \u2018the Yodas\u2019, founded by Felix Bingui (half French, half Central African), and \u2018the Blacks\u2019, founded by two brothers from the Comoros. While it\u2019s impossible to know if they were all born in France and are second or third-generation immigrants or if some arrived there later, they all started their business in the notorious gateway into France that is Marseille.<\/p>\n

The French connection really had a makeover. And with Europe importing migrants endlessly, the face and size of the mafia in France will keep mutating.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Louis,
Brutal killing of French teen by \u2018migrant gang\u2019 sparks national outrage (GRAPHIC FOOTAGE)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to a 2025 report of the French Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, the French drug market nearly tripled in value from 2010 to 2023, rising from an estimated \u20ac2.3 billion to 6.8 billion. Gangs make so much money that they can easily corrupt, threaten, and infiltrate formal economic activities. That\u2019s no small drug-dealing business at the corner of a street. As it is part of a mayor\u2019s duties to fight drug trafficking, Rivenq indeed has reasons to be worried.<\/p>\n

But Rivenq is only a mayor. What can a local politician can do if this gang is able to corrupt the authorities and high-ranking politicians rumored to be drug users? According to FranceInfo: \u201cWhile the fight against drug trafficking has been declared a national priority by the government, several testimonies corroborate the fact that some members of parliament and staff use narcotics, particularly to cope with workload and pressure.\u201d<\/em> Coming from state media, that sounds like a euphemism.<\/p>\n

The French government does not do much against these gangs \u2013 and even if it really wanted to, would it be able to act? The police can\u2019t enter many neighborhoods where gangsters are in charge, who even \u2018take care\u2019 of the poor population (for example, providing school supplies to families) in order to prevent outside meddling in their business.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
Western Europe is sleepwalking toward civilizational suicide<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Two days after the mayor\u2019s exfiltration, the DZ Mafia published a video in which, wearing masks and speaking behind a table covered with an Algerian flag marked \u2018DZ\u2019, they denied being behind these threats, saying that the method was despicable and that other people did this to harm their image. French media noted that on Rivenq\u2019s wall was the acronym \u2018DZ NG\u2019 (DZ New Generation). It appears that there\u2019s a split among the founding members after a deal gone wrong. The journalists\u2019 conclusion? DZ Mafia\u2019s recent developments resemble the split of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel and the founding of Jalisco New Generation cartel. The latter is considered by Mexico as one of the country\u2019s most dangerous criminal organizations. \u2018We are at war\u2019, the French politicians say. At this stage, they\u2019d better learn how to say \u2018ay caramba!\u2019 in Arabic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As drugs keep flooding into Europe, a new generation of gangs in France is resorting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}