Suspected Marseille Drug Lord Arrested in Dubai After Years on the Run

"This is a very nice first international cooperation carried out by the authorities of the United Arab Emirates," said the Marseille prosecutor, Dominique Laurens, to the AFP. Hakim Berrebouh, alias "Marca," is suspected of piloting a major drug trafficking operation in Marseille from abroad where he lives.

The suspect had left France after an assassination attempt and the murder of his brother Mehdi in 2014, reports the regional daily La Provence. The latter had just been released from prison. Hakim had then settled in Morocco before joining Dubai a few months ago.

According to the investigators, the murder of his brother was one of the many score-settling between two family "clans," the Berrebouhs and the Tirs on one side, the Remadnias on the other, cousins from the same Algerian region in the Aures. These two clans are fighting for control of the drug trade in the northern neighborhoods of Marseille.