One week after the assassination of Mehdi Kessaci in Marseille, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin visited the city on November 20, 2025. They stated that narcotraffic poses a threat at least equivalent to terrorism and pledged to bolster judicial resources. The event aims to address the shock from this alleged intimidation crime against anti-drug efforts.
Mehdi Kessaci, 20, brother of anti-drug activist Amine Kessaci, was shot dead in broad daylight on November 13, 2025, in Marseille's 13th arrondissement, near the Frais-Vallon mosque. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau, leading the probe through the National Jurisdiction against Organized Crime, stated the perpetrators are from the 'high end of organized crime', likely targeting Amine for his fight against narcobanditism.
On November 20, Gérald Darmanin and Laurent Nuñez held a meeting at the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture with magistrates, investigators, and security forces. Darmanin called narcotraffic a 'threat at least equivalent to terrorism', noting networks generate 'between 5 and 6 billion euros in cash'. Nuñez said the assassination is 'a crime aimed at scaring and targeting the Republic and the State', announcing 2000 indictments and 900 pre-trial detentions linked to Marseille mafias.
The ministers pledged reinforcements for magistrates and clerks, and the launch in January 2026 of a national anti-organized crime prosecutor's office (Pnaco). Nuñez committed to monthly visits to Marseille. Narcomicides in Bouches-du-Rhône dropped from 50 in 2023 to 24 in 2024 and about 15 in 2025. A white march honoring Mehdi is set for Saturday, November 22, with participation from elected officials like Manuel Bompard and Fabien Roussel.
Amine Kessaci stated: 'Everyone is threatened today'. Roberto Saviano warned of France's lag in fighting narcotraffic, ignored for 30 years. Mayor Benoît Payan welcomed the state's firmness but lamented a shortage of police personnel.
