During the council of ministers on November 19, 2025, Emmanuel Macron criticized affluent urban consumers for funding drug traffickers, amid the assassination of Mehdi Kessaci in Marseille. The president called for collective mobilization and prevention policies. Meanwhile, judicial and international measures are underway to combat drug trafficking.
On November 19, 2025, during the council of ministers, Emmanuel Macron sharply criticized drug consumption in urban settings. According to government spokesperson Maud Bregeon, the president stated: 'It is sometimes the bourgeois of city centers who fund narcotraffickers.' He emphasized the importance of prevention and awareness policies, adding: 'We cannot deplore deaths on one side and continue to consume in the evening after work on the other.'
These remarks come after the assassination of Mehdi Kessaci, 20, shot on November 13 in Marseille. Mehdi was the brother of Amine Kessaci, an ecologist militant and founder of the Association Conscience in 2020, which fights the ravages of drug trafficking in popular neighborhoods. Amine Kessaci, in a tribune published on November 19, buried his brother on November 18 and denounced 'the violence of drug trafficking,' 'the cowardice of the masterminds,' and state shortcomings. He recalled the previous death of their brother Brahim in December 2020 and criticized the lack of protection for his family despite threats reported to police in August. 'No, I will not be silent. I will say and repeat that my brother Mehdi died for nothing,' he wrote, calling for collective action and measures like strengthening public services and resources for investigators.
On the legislative front, Bruno Retailleau, Republicans president and former Interior Minister, praised on Europe 1-CNews a new law against organized crime, inspired by anti-terrorist legislation. It provides for a National Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime (Pnaco) from January 1, 2026, a state-major grouping intelligence from four ministries, and a specialized judicial chain. 'It is a war and we will win it,' he asserted, criticizing the National Rally's contradictions on intercepting encrypted messages.
Internationally, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin demanded the extradition of about fifteen narcotraffickers from the United Arab Emirates during a visit on November 19. Since the start of the year, 14 major traffickers have been extradited to France and incarcerated in high-security prisons. For the first time, the UAE seized around forty apartments, and Darmanin transmitted a list of assets worth tens of millions of euros, bought in cash or cryptocurrencies. 'France's security is also at stake in the Emirates' and traffickers must be 'hit in the wallet at the international level,' he declared on X. Accompanied by Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, he will visit Marseille on November 20.