A 22-year-old man, known to the police and courts for drug trafficking, died after being hit by gunfire in Marseille on Friday evening, the Marseille prosecutor’s office told Agence France-Presse on Saturday, December 30 ( AFP).
On Friday around 9:15 p.m., this young Marseillais was hit in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant in the north of Marseille “several shots from an assault rifle weapon to the legs, then to the head while he was nearby, and then in his vehicle.”, explained the Marseille prosecutor’s office. The victim was resuscitated at the scene and then transported with a “Vital prognosis carried out” taken to North Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
“A vehicle reported stolen, which may have been the same as the perpetrator’s, was discovered in flames”, underlined the prosecution. The investigation has been opened “organized gang killings, criminal conspiracy and intentional damage to property by fire”was entrusted to the criminal police.
On the night of December 25th to 26th, a man who had already been convicted of drug trafficking was shot several times on the same street at number 15e District, near the Cabucelle district.
If the connection between this new murder and the drug trade plaguing France’s second largest city could be made, the number would be “Narchomicides” According to a countercount by the public prosecutor’s office and the AFP, the number of people in Marseille since the beginning of the year is 49 people, including seven minors. A significantly higher number than the two previous records from 2022 and 2016, in which there were around thirty deaths.
The war between drug traffickers over control of outlets in the city’s residential areas has also left 118 injured, including 18 minors, Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said at a news conference shortly before Christmas.
