Marseille drug gangs use money and social media to draw young recruits

The BBC says it found numerous social media posts advertising work in Marseille for drivers, couriers and hitmen. Police told the broadcaster that such adverts can reach teenagers across France.

The adverts do not establish the ages of applicants or whether any led to a child being recruited. But the use of social media to find young workers for the drug trade is not new. In a 2024 report, France’s public spending watchdog said Marseille networks often recruited lookouts and sellers from outside the city through online adverts. They included unaccompanied children.

AFP also reported on recruitment adverts in 2023, including one on Snapchat seeking lookouts and sellers.

A 20-year-old who says he has left the DZ Mafia gang told the BBC that the group offered young recruits cars, flats and other benefits. “Whatever you want, they give to you,” he said.

A 23-year-old member of a rival gang said he had earned €3,000 a month when he was 13. Both men’s identities were protected by the broadcaster.

Another man told the BBC he had been part of a DZ Mafia hit squad. The broadcaster said he was in prison awaiting trial after being implicated in several murders.