Key Marseille Drug Lord to be Extradited from Morocco to France

The new French Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin, worked "discreetly" with his Moroccan counterpart to obtain this agreement as soon as he took office, confides one of the sources close to the case. Félix Bingui, 34, one of the main drug trafficking gangs in Marseille, should be extradited to France on Wednesday.

Gérald Darmanin hails a "victory against narco-banditry." "As Minister of the Interior, I had obtained the arrest in Morocco of one of the biggest drug traffickers in our country, Félix Bingui, known as ’Le Chat’," he recalled, before thanking the Moroccan authorities. "Today, as Minister of Justice, I sincerely thank the Moroccan authorities for having initiated the extradition process, which will finally allow the French justice system to try him," he added.

Félix Bingui was arrested on March 8, 2024 by the Moroccan authorities in Casablanca. He was the subject of an Interpol red notice issued by France as part of an arrest warrant issued by a judge in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) for "importing drugs in an organized gang, transport, possession, acquisition, transfer of drugs, criminal conspiracy [...], money laundering and failure to justify resources." Last April, he had agreed to be extradited to France during a hearing at the Rabat Court of Cassation.

The Marseille drug trafficker regularly went to Morocco. He even took refuge in the kingdom after the outbreak in February 2023 of a "war" with the rival gang "DZ Mafia" for the control of territories where drug sales generate up to 80,000 euros in turnover per day. The toll of the deadly violence is 49 dead, including four collateral victims, and 123 injured.