Drug mafia a new threat to France

A mayor in southern France was urgently evacuated from his home on Monday night and placed under police protection after authorities learned of a possible attack on him that, according to Reuters, was being planned by the country's leading drug gang.

The incident marks a turning point in France's long-running fight against rising drug-related crime, following years of record cocaine imports from Latin America, which have fueled the domestic drug trade.

Although gang clashes and murders are becoming more common across France, attacks on elected officials remain rare, according to Reuters.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said he had taken the decision to evacuate Ales Mayor Christophe Rivenck from his home after credible intelligence indicated that members of the DZ mafia group were preparing an imminent attack on him.

The DZ mafia, which originated in Marseille, about 160 kilometers south of Ales, quickly grew from a local criminal group into one of the main security threats in France, thanks to its dominant position in the drug trade, according to Reuters.

“Ales is clearly a place where the DZ mafia is trying to consolidate its presence,” Nunez told reporters.

Rivenko had already been threatened earlier this month, when nine-millimeter bullets were found in his mailbox, while threatening messages were written on the walls of his house, according to France's National Prosecutor's Office for the Fight against Organized Crime (PNACO).

PNACO, a recently formed unit tasked with combating the DZ mafia and the growing drug-related crime in France, announced that it had taken over the case from Marseille prosecutors.

The value of the illegal drug market in France almost tripled between 2010 and 2023, from an estimated 2,3 billion to 6,8 billion euros, according to a report published in December 2025 by the French Observatory on Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT).