IN the dead of night, armed police shook Christophe Rivenq awake in his southern France home and rushed him and his family to safety amid fears of an incoming attack by the country’s most feared gang.
Cops had been tipped off that a car bomb was about to explode outside the house of the Alès Mayor – on the orders of DZ Mafia, a brutal drug cartel that has left a grim trail of blood and destruction in its wake in a popular tourist hotspot.
Beachgoers gather at the Plage des Prophetes in Marseille Credit: AFP
An Algerian drug gang, the DZ Mafia in Marseilles denies involvement in a killing of a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed fifty times and burned alive
Armed with Kalashnikovs and commissioning “child killers” to carry out their dirty work, DZ Mafia is blamed for well over 100 murders in the last three years amid a terrifying turf war.
A state of panic has long gripped areas of the clan’s main haunt, the huge Mediterranean city of Marseille, a short car ride away from millionaires’ playgrounds like Saint-Tropez and Cannes on the famed Côte d’Azur French Riviera.
But experts say the gang’s presence in the small city of Alès, 86 miles northwest, is only a small step in a bold operation to expand its reign of terror.
Organised crime expert Fabrice Rizzoli told The Jattvibe: “In more than 30 years I have never seen anything like the DZ Mafia.
Influencer and reality star Carla Moreau’s car was set alight in a suspected DZ Mafia hit Credit: carlamoreau_____/Instagram
Mayor of Alès Christophe Rivenq was evacuated from his home by armed police amid fears he was the target of an imminent attack Credit: AFP
“It is violence without restraint. Innocent civilians, judges, police and politicians are all targets.
“People are scared, they will not speak or give their names in investigations out of fear they will be targeted.”
Two days after the foiled plot against Mayor Christophe, the car of influencer and French TV reality star Carla Moreau was set on fire and destroyed in front of her Marseille home.
At the scene, police found a mobile phone and a note demanding over £50,000 bearing the signature of DZ Mafia.
A warning against the presence of DZ Mafia in Alès reads: ‘This is Alès, not “DZ in full force.’ Credit: AFP
Inscriptions on a wall in Ales where tags display the prices of drugs including cannabis and cocaine Credit: AFP
The phone – a pre-paid burner – is a common tactic of the gang to force targets to contact them via encrypted messaging apps and demand money for protection.
While an official link has not yet been made by investigators, DZ Mafia is known to target influencers and high profile influencers for raise quick cash for ongoing turf wars.
Just a few days ago the popular Marseille rapper Jul was forced to leave his home in the city following similar threats from the DMZ Mafia, according to Le Parisien.
Unknown to police until 2023, DZ Mafia has rapidly evolved into a criminal syndicate with its own branding and social media presence.
The DZ in its name refers to country code for Algeria – the origin of its founding members.
Police were first alerted to the clan after it posted pictures of a victim’s burning body in the city’s Busserine district, beside the words DZ Mafia.
They quickly became notorious for “score settling” gangland killings fuelled by an intense rivalry with Yoda gang.
Local cops counted 68 shootings in the first eight months of that year, 30 of which were fatal. In August 2023, there were six deaths in six days.
Ouassila Benhamdi (C) her son, Amine Kessaci (R1), and Benoit Payan (L1), the mayor of Marseille, pay tribute to murdered Mehdi Kessaci Credit: Getty
Amine Kessaci an anti-drug trafficking activist, whose brother was killed in what police suspect to be a brutal warning Credit: AFP
December 2025 saw one of the most chilling killings take place.
Children spotted the charred corpse of Adel, aged just 15, as they walked to school by a beach in Marseille.
A single bullet was lodged in his head and his killers had doused his lifeless body in petrol and set him on fire as a warning to rivals.
The bloodbath spread across the northern districts as drug peddlers exerted control of “lucrative” locations.
But a “turning point” came later that year, according to Fabrice, when 20-year-old Mehdi Kessaci was shot dead while parking his car in Marseille.
Investigators fear his killing was ordered as a brutal warning to his brother, Amine, an outspoken anti-drugs activist.
Fabrice said: “For the first time authorities became afraid – their violence was no longer contained within gangs.”
Fabrice founded French organisation Crim’HALT a decade ago to encourage authorities to work alongside victims of organised crime.
In early March, police launched Operation “Octopus” which led to the arrest of 43 suspected DZ Mafia membersCredit: Refer to source
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez (C) takes part in a large-scale operation against drug trafficking in Marseille Credit: Alamy
He said: “It is not just drug dealers and criminals being killed, there are so many innocent victims.”
At the same time DZ Mafia was diversifying, from drugs into extortion and protection rackets.
But it is the cartel’s presence on social media that surprises and concerns Fabrice.
He said: “They are recruiting child killers on TikTok and Telegram by sending out announcements offering money for a hit on someone.
“It’s a new generation of organised crime, taking the code of the Mexican cartels.”
Other TikTok posts show masked, black-clad men standing behind a makeshift altar covered with a white sheet inscribed with the words DZ Mafia.
These clips have been used by the gang to deny killings they have been blamed for.
Fabrice said: “They are like press conferences – but a terrorist group speaking to the state.
“‘We are DZ Mafia but it wasn’t us’. It’s incredible, we have not seen this before.”
In response to escalating violence France has intensified its crackdown on the group.
In early March, police launched Operation “Octopus” – which led to the arrest of 43 suspected high-ranking members.
During the raids, authorities seized assets valued at more than £3.4million (about $4.6million).
A French police officer standing near cannabis, arms, ammunition, and bank notes seized by the Marseille police Credit: AFP
Weapons seized from local dealers during a visit of the French Interior Minister in Marseille, southern France Credit: AFP
Despite resources deployed by the State, police, and justice system, DZ Mafia is extending its grip far beyond Marseille.
A recent cross-border money laundering probe seized over £34.81 million ($46.3 million) along a route across France and into Italy.
Fabrice said: “They are already expanding throughout France, taking control of territory. It is incredibly ambitious.”
Now a violent turf war in Brussels has been linked to the gang.
Last year it was revealed that two inmates were playing a leading role in the raging gang war blighting Belgium’s capital from behind prison walls using clandestine phones.
One of the men is said to lead a gang of at least 30 members in the Peterbos neighbourhood, which allegedly has links to DZ.
Through this alliance DZ Mafia allegedly aims to have the Peterbos gang take over the entire Brussels drug trade, local media reports.
While authorities in France clamp down on the gang, Fabrice says “judicial time is not on our side.”
The trial of six men accused of being key figures in DZ Mafia began in March.
The defendants face charges from a 2019 double murder that authorities say was a calculated underworld hit.
Farid Tir, 29, and Mohamed Bendjaghlouli, were found with fatal gunshot wounds in a hotel room on August 30, 2019.
Among the six men currently standing trial are Amine Oualane and Gabriel Ory, who prosecutors claim to be the leading kingpins of DZ Mafia.
But the gang does not have one single boss, instead operating within a coalition of factions making it far more difficult for authorities to dismantle.
Fabrice said: “Trials are unacceptably long, sometimes taking years to hold these criminals to account.
“And in the meantime there is a catastrophic demand for cocaine that will continue feeding the gangs growth.”
