The French government held an emergency meeting at the Élysée on November 18, 2025, to intensify the fight against narcotraffic following the assassination of Mehdi Kessaci, brother of an anti-drug activist, described as an 'intimidation crime'. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez highlighted that traffickers are reacting to blows from law enforcement. Emmanuel Macron plans a visit to Marseille mid-December.
On November 13, 2025, Mehdi Kessaci, the younger brother of anti-narcobanditism activist Amine Kessaci, was shot dead in Marseille. Prosecutor Nicolas Bessone did not rule out a 'warning assassination,' and Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the act as an 'intimidation crime' during an Élysée meeting on the morning of November 18. This session, chaired by Emmanuel Macron with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and ministers including Gérald Darmanin (Justice), Jean-Noël Barrot (Foreign Affairs), and Amélie de Montchalin (Public Accounts), aimed to accelerate the implementation of the narcotraffic law promulgated in June 2025.
Nuñez explained that 'traffickers are increasingly on edge because of the actions we are taking' and that this murder represents 'a real tipping point.' He stressed: 'If there were no consumers, there would be none of this, all these dramas, all these crimes, all these traffics.' Lecornu described it as 'a huge societal challenge' requiring 'a form of national unity,' drawing inspiration from the successful fight against terrorism.
In Berlin the same day, Macron stated that 'buying cocaine or cannabis' means 'de facto being complicit and providing funding to organized crime networks.' He advocated for a 'totally integrated approach, from local to international,' comparing the required effort to that against terrorism: 'What has been done, and even succeeded, in the fight against terrorism, we must do on narcotraffic.'
The Kessaci family lawyer, Mathieu Croizet, responded: 'Big announcements are good, concrete means are better,' pointing to a shortage of 30 magistrates in Marseille. Mehdi's funeral took place on the afternoon of November 18 under police protection, near the site of another homicide: a 48-year-old man killed by four bullets in the Olives neighborhood. A white march is planned for the weekend. The law provides for the creation of the National Parquet against Organized Crime (Pnaco) on January 1, 2026. Macron will visit Marseille mid-December for a new assessment.
