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The French judicial police service has documented that 28 percent of solved homicide perpetrators in drug-related cases during the first three quarters of 2025 were under 20 years old, up from 24 percent the previous year, according to a Sirasco assessment. The same police analysis found that the youngest identified killers are now 14 years old, frequently recruited online via platforms such as Telegram with payments ranging from 2,000 euros for support roles to 30,000 euros for direct involvement in attacks. A confidential judicial police report reviewed by Le Journal du Dimanche described organised crime as becoming younger, more mobile and more violent, with networks subcontracting murders to inexperienced minors who are easy to recruit and replace.
In Marseille, the epicentre of much of the violence, the DZ Mafia has expanded recruitment of youths from across France to serve not only as dealers and lookouts but also to conduct kidnappings, torture and assassinations, a BBC investigation published on Sunday reported. Mediapart has described the systematic exploitation of these children as a new form of human trafficking, in which minors face threats, captivity and extreme violence for failing to meet quotas or attempting to leave the networks. The city’s chief prosecutor has linked the trend to an industry estimated to generate 7 billion euros a year nationwide, according to figures cited by anti-drug officials.
A case examined in the BBC report involved two 15-year-old boys who approached a gang seeking paid illegal work but were instead held captive and tortured until one managed to send a note reading “We’re being held captive and need help. We are 15-years-old.” The note prompted police intervention, leading to the arrest of six men who were later handed heavy sentences, with photographs recovered from one suspect’s phone showing additional youths in similar distressed states. Marseille prosecutors have recorded nearly 50 minors under investigation for murders or attempted murders tied to organised crime by the end of 2025, many of them aged 15 or younger and drawn into escalating turf wars between factions such as the DZ Mafia.
Interior Ministry data for 2025 places the number of minors implicated in narcotics cases at 10,568, even as the overall share of minors among all crime suspects has declined over the past decade. The ministry’s review found that while drug-use offences among minors have fallen, those linked to trafficking have risen, with minors now accounting for 16 percent of suspects in narcotics infractions. Officials attribute the pattern to gangs exploiting the lower risk of severe punishment for children and their perceived expendability in violent operations.
Deputy prosecutor Céline Raignault in Marseille told Mediapart that while the use of minors at dealing spots is not new, the trend has shifted toward ever-younger participants who are increasingly drawn into violence as both perpetrators and victims. “What is new, however, is that they are getting younger and younger, and more and more are becoming involved in acts of violence, whether as perpetrators or victims,” Raignault said. One such incident in October 2024 involved a 14-year-old who killed a taxi driver while being transported to carry out a paid assassination, an event that highlighted the growing “ubérisation” of drug-related violence through digital recruitment.
The narcotics economy distorts local markets and contributes to more than 700 fatal overdoses annually in addition to road accidents, family violence and other harms, according to the anti-drug trafficking unit. Police have arrested about 1,000 individuals linked to the DZ Mafia since 2024, incarcerating 600 of them, yet the service of judicial police noted that the ease of online recruitment sustains the cycle. A former gang member identified only as Adam told the BBC from prison that his “cold-bloodedness” had helped him advance within the organisation, illustrating how such traits are rewarded in the hierarchy.
