Flowers left at the site where Mehdi Kessaci was killed, Marseille, November 18, 2025. ARTHUR LARIE FOR « LE MONDE »
One week after the November 13 murder of Mehdi Kessaci in Marseille, the caution surrounding the investigation stood in sharp contrast to the public debate sparked by the death of the younger brother of Amine Kessaci, a prominent activist fighting against drug-related crime. A silent march is scheduled for Saturday, November 22, at the roundabout where the 20-year-old was shot dead, but the crime scene analysis has yet to lead to the arrests.
According to early findings, the person who ordered the killing was likely at the highest levels of Marseille's criminal underworld. All signs currently point to the DZ Mafia, the city's most powerful drug trafficking organization. Le Parisien reported on November 20 that investigators have zeroed in on one figure in particular: Amine O., a DZ Mafia leader who has been incarcerated at the Bourg-en-Bresse detention center in eastern France since March. From his cell, he may have orchestrated the murder.
Investigators who spoke with Le Monde remained extremely cautious. None would officially confirm that Amine O. was considered the mastermind, even as one legal source described his involvement as among the "main lines of inquiry." For now, the investigation relies primarily on clues gathered at the crime scene, particularly surveillance footage, as authorities work to identify the two masked men on a motorcycle who carried out the killing.
