Teenager stabbed 50 times and burned alive in France over drug war

Marseille, France’s second largest city and one of the poorest, has become infamous for the ongoing battle between rival drug gangs.

The city of Marseille, in southern France, is reeling from a gruesome murder that claimed the life of a 15-year-old boy, who was “stabbed 50 times” and then burned alive. Prosecutors confirmed on Sunday that the brutal act is part of a wider web of drug-fuelled violence engulfing Marseille.

Marseille, France’s second largest city and one of the poorest, has become infamous for the ongoing battle between rival drug gangs. Groups like DZ Mafia and Yoda are locked in a battle to control the lucrative drug trade, resulting in countless victims. The city’s prosecutor, Nicolas Bessone, stressed that both the victims and perpetrators of these violent incidents are becoming alarmingly younger.

Bessone described the 15-year-old’s murder as an act of “unprecedented cruelty.” The young boy was recruited via social media by a 23-year-old prisoner, member of the DZ mafia, who promised him €2,000 to intimidate a rival by setting his door on fire. However, the plan took a deadly turn when members of a rival gang caught the teenager and found him with a firearm.

As gruesome punishment, the rival gang members stabbed the boy fifty times with a knife and then took him to the Fonscolombes residential area. “According to the autopsy, he was burned alive,” Bessone revealed at the press conference. The boy’s 15-year-old friend, who had been with him during the ordeal, managed to escape.

Footballer shot by 14-year-old

Just two days later, another tragedy struck the city when 36-year-old footballer Nessim Ramdane was shot and killed. In a chilling twist, his killer was a 14-year-old boy, also hired via social media by the same inmate who orchestrated the first murder. The teenager was promised €50,000 to carry out a revenge attack on a rival gang member. Ramdane, who worked as a driver to support his family, was shot “in the back of the head” by the 14-year-old when he disobeyed orders to drop off the boy and his accomplice.

Drug gangs recruit minors

The recent murders bring the number of drug-related deaths in Marseille to seventeen this year alone. The city’s drug lords are increasingly targeting minors, using social media to recruit them as “foot soldiers” for street-level drug deals and, in some cases, murder. Bessone pointed out that these young recruits kill “without any remorse or reflection.”

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