Suspected drug gang leader extradited from Morocco to France

The alleged leader of a major drug gang in Marseille has been extradited from Morocco to France in what the French justice minister hailed as a "victory against narco-crime".

Félix Bingui — a 34-year-old French-Moroccan man — is accused by French authorities of being the head of the notorious Yoda gang, which is involved in a deadly drug trafficking war in France's biggest city, according to media reports in France.

Bingui, who is known as "The Cat", was arrested in Casablanca last March on a warrant issued by a judge in Marseille for charges including "importation of drugs as part of an organised gang, criminal association and money laundering", Le Parisien reported.

Morocco approved the request last April, and Bingui agreed to be extradited. He returned to France on Tuesday and will reportedly appear before a court in Marseille this week.

France's Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said Bingui "will now have to answer for his actions before the French justice system".

"His extradition, made possible by the Moroccan authorities whom I sincerely thank, is a major step forward in the fight against drug trafficking," he wrote on X on Wednesday.

Bingui's lawyer, Philippe Ohayon, told Le Parisien he hoped that "the magistrates responsible for the case [would] approach the subject with serenity and complete independence, while respecting the rights of the defence".

Bingui reportedly used to frequently travel back and forth between Marseille and Morocco until a turf war broke out between the Yoda clan and a rival gang called DZ Mafia in early 2023, forcing him to stay in Morocco.

The two gangs were responsible for 35 of the 49 drug-related killings in Marseille in 2023, according to authorities.

On Tuesday, police and prosecutors in the city presented the latest crime figures, which showed that the number of deaths linked to drug trafficking had dropped to 24 last year.

The drop in what police refer to as "narco-homicides" is partly due to "the victory of the DZ Mafia over the Yoda clan", the city's prosecutor Nicolas Bessone told French media.

The French government last March announced a nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking, with President Emmanuel Macron visiting one of the worst affected estates in Marseille — La Castellane — as part of a 24-hour operation that led to dozens of arrests.