Matteo F. has been charged with murdering three petty rivals of the drug gang that ordered him. Credit: Twitter
Teenager Hitmen hired by drug lords waging turf wars in Marseille have begun bragging about their exploits on social media to earn bonuses on top of their payouts.
Drug lords use Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok to act like «criminal influencers». «to recruit new hands, show off their stockpiles of weapons, sell their wares and fight off rivals in increasingly bloody gang warfare in a port in southern France.
Marseille, France's second largest city, has already been hit this year by 22 fatalities, more than in all of 2022, making it Europe's murder capital Most of the violence is part of a war between two rival gangs — DZ Mafia and Yoda — who trade Kalashnikov shots almost daily.
High death tolls and tit for tat leaders are recruiting ever younger hitmen, dubbed by some experts as one-time «napkin killers».
A propaganda film by the Marseille drug gang DZ Mafia shows off its arsenal. Photo: Twitter
This phenomenon became known after the arrest in April of an 18-year-old teenager known only as Matteo F.
Charged with the murder of three low-level rivals of the gang that ordered it, his victims were 15, 16 and 20 years old. The police believe that in total for these and other crimes he was paid about 200,000 euros. They suspect him of being involved in six or seven more attacks.
In a chilling video posted on encrypted messaging apps but circulating on social media, masked Matteo can be heard cackling: “I’m going to row contracts bro. I'll take them off.
“As for my mother's life, I'm hoarding contracts. I'm laughing,” he can be heard boasting.
When he was caught, he showed no remorse, telling the police, «It's a good thing I didn't have a gun when you arrested me, otherwise I would have died if I used it.»
Recruited via Snapchat
The teen, reportedly from a middle-class family, was recruited via Snapchat, provided with weapons and a car, and was told to avoid Marseille except when committing assaults. He was ordered to film his work to prove that it was successful — the more coverage of the crimes on social networks, the better.
“The price was 20,000 euros per contract, but could go up to 50,000 euros depending on conditions. number of views on Instagram,” one source told Le Parisien.
“One of their strategies is to grab the attention of the media to say, ‘Look how strong we are,’” said Dominique Lawrence, prosecutor Marseille.
“They film themselves, constantly challenge and provoke each other,” says Marseille’s prosecutor. Le Parisien was informed about this by a source in the local police. “This is done to intimidate rivals and inspire soldiers on the front lines when drug leaders are on the run abroad or in prison far from the theater of war.”
Marseille is not the only city affected. In another case involving young hitmen recruited online, police arrested nine people in Paris in March, including a 16-year-old who was caught killing a 38-year-old man in the capital's 11th arrondissement last July. Police said the commandos were offering their services across the country.
«Young Killer Cyber Network»
Another «Young Killer Cyber Network» was recently arrested in Marseille after traveling from Paris to carry out a murder, police said. Parisians.
A few months ago, another group was captured, which had been hiding in a hotel for two weeks, awaiting orders. They were given a Golf GTI for their vacation and a rental car for the beach while they waited for work.
Experts say the «sociology» of gangster killers is changing.
«Previously, a limited number of professional killers paid €100,000 per contract at the behest of a particular network,» one police source told JDD. “Now we are facing less experienced but no less dangerous profiles. They are given weapons before being given a target, which could be a deal point or a group of people.»
Junior Targets
Frédéric Camilleri, prefect of Bouches-du-Rhone, said the young hitmen also reflected younger, lower-level targets.
“Three or four years ago, the victims of drug-dealing disputes were usually high up in the ring hierarchy. They were harder to reach because they took precautions. Such hits were more difficult,” she said. “Now they hunt for dog bodies.”
“They have gone from lieutenants to “shufs” [scouts], who are often very young, so 15-16-year-old children die. And since the killers, often young themselves, do not know how to handle weapons and fire bursts, no one is safe from a stray bullet,” said Jerome Pierra, a journalist specializing in Marseille gang wars.
< p>Over the past two years, the ministry Internal Affairs has sent more than 200 additional police officers to Marseille to try to quell the violence, including 30 more this month.
But the killings continue.
< p>This week in the Paternel residential area, the epicenter of the war on drugs, the 22nd murder took place.
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