France’s DZ Mafia recruits teenagers nationwide for kidnappings and killings

A BBC investigation has found that the DZ Mafia, one of France’s most powerful drug gangs, is recruiting teenagers from across the country to carry out kidnappings and killings. The recruitment follows the gang’s victory in a bloody turf war with a rival group in Marseille in 2023, raising concern that its reach is expanding.

A gang member in his twenties, held in prison while awaiting trial in connection with several murders, told the BBC he had been part of a DZ Mafia hit squad. He described attacks ranging from assaults to abductions and killings, said he felt partly guilty but had no regrets, and called the fast money of drug trafficking a trap.