MARSEILLE, France: The alleged leader of a major drug gang from the southern French port city of Marseille has been arrested in Morocco, French authorities announced on Saturday.
Marseille, France’s second-largest city but also one of its poorest metropoles, has been hit by drug-related violence.
“One of Marseille’s biggest drug traffickers was arrested in Morocco. Bravo to the police officers who tirelessly continue the fight against drug trafficking,” French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
He thanked the authorities of Morocco, saying “a big blow” had been dealt to drug trafficking.
Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone told AFP that Felix Bingui, 33, had been detained in the port city of Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city.
Bingui is believed to be the leader of Yoda, one of Marseille’s main drug gangs.
According to a source, the arrest was the result of months-long cooperation between French and Moroccan officials.
The gritty Mediterranean city’s northern neighborhoods, notorious for their rundown streets and housing estates, are seen as the hub of the narcotics trade.
The city has in recent years witnessed a turf war for control of the highly profitable drug market between Yoda and another major clan known as DZ Mafia.
According to a source close to the investigation, Bingui regularly shuttled back and forth between France and Morocco until the outbreak of the turf war with DZ Mafia in February, 2023.
Last year, 49 people were killed and more than 120 received injuries in drug-related violence between rival gangs in Marseille.
A notorious drug smuggler, Karim Harrat, was extradited from Morocco to France in 2023.
French drug gang leader arrested in Morocco: officials
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French drug gang leader arrested in Morocco: officials
- “One of Marseille’s biggest drug traffickers was arrested in Morocco,” French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X
- He thanked the authorities of Morocco, saying “a big blow” had been dealt to drug trafficking
Sisi meets Burhan in Cairo to discuss restoring stability in Sudan
- 2 leaders also planned to consult on strengthening bilateral ties
DUBAI: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council President Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan met in Cairo on Monday to discuss ways to restore stability and promote development in Sudan.
The two leaders also planned to consult on strengthening bilateral ties and addressing various regional issues, Ahram Online reported.
Al-Burhan’s visit comes amid ongoing conflict in Sudan, where fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces has devastated the country.
Al-Burhan declared Khartoum “free” of RSF control in March after a major military push.
The war, which erupted in April 2023 over disputes regarding the RSF’s integration into the military, has left tens of thousands dead, with both sides accused of committing atrocities.
Sudan remains deeply divided, with the army controlling the north and east, while the RSF holds much of Darfur and parts of the south.
Iraq’s counter-terrorism chief discusses security with Egyptian, Jordanian envoys
- The meetings focused on strengthening cooperation, exchanging expertise and sharing perspectives on security issues
DUBAI: The head of Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service, Lt. Gen. Karim Al-Tamimi, held separate meetings on Monday with the Egyptian and Jordanian military envoys to discuss ways to boost security cooperation.
Al-Tamimi met with Egyptian military attache Col. Akram Sharif and Jordanian military attache Brig. Gen. Anwar Al-Bashbasha, according to a statement from the Counter-Terrorism Service.
The meetings focused on strengthening cooperation, exchanging expertise and sharing perspectives on security issues between the three countries.
Jordanian armed forces foil two major narcotics smuggling attempts
- Border Guard Forces, in coordination with military security and the Anti-Narcotics Department, monitored a group of smugglers trying to illegally cross into Jordan
DUBAI: Jordan’s Eastern and Southern Military Zones thwarted separate drug smuggling attempts over the past two days, as the Jordanian Armed Forces-Arab Army intensified efforts to protect national security.
On Monday, the Eastern Military Zone carried out a special operation, stopping an infiltration attempt from Syrian territory.
An official military source said Border Guard Forces, in coordination with military security and the Anti-Narcotics Department, monitored a group of smugglers trying to illegally cross into Jordan.
Rapid reaction patrols were sent out, applying the rules of engagement, which resulted in injuries among the smugglers and the retreat of others back into Syria.
A subsequent search uncovered large quantities of narcotics, which were transferred to the relevant authorities.
On Sunday evening, meanwhile, the Southern Military Zone foiled an attempt to smuggle narcotics using a drone along its western front.
The drone was tracked, intercepted and brought down inside Jordanian territory, with the seized drugs handed over to the relevant agencies.
‘New inferno was unleashed’ with restart of Gaza war, says ICRC director
- Gaza is experiencing and enduring death, injury, and multiple displacements, the ICRC says
DOHA: A “new inferno” has been unleashed on Gaza following the restart of war in the Palestinian territory, the director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Monday.
“Gaza is experiencing and enduring... death, injury, multiple displacements, amputations, separation, disappearance, starvation and denial of aid and dignity on a massive scale, and just when the all important ceasefire led people to believe they had survived the worst, a new inferno was unleashed,” Pierre Krahenbuhl told a Doha conference on security.
Iran repelled large cyberattack on Sunday
- Iran has in the past accused its arch-foe Israel of being behind cyberattacks
- In 2021, a large cyberattack on Iranian petrol stations was said by Tehran to likely be caused by Israel
DUBAI: Iran repelled a large cyberattack on its infrastructure on Sunday, said the head of its Infrastructure Communications Company, a day after a powerful explosion damaged its most important container port and another round of talks with the US over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
“One of the most widespread and complex cyberattacks against the country’s infrastructure was identified and preventive measures were taken,” Behzad Akbari said on Monday, according to semi-official Tasnim news agency, without giving more detail.
Tehran and Washington concluded a third round of nuclear talks on Saturday in Oman, on the same day Iran’s biggest port of Bandar Abbas was rocked by a large explosion whose cause remains unknown.
Chemicals at the port were suspected to have fueled the explosion, but the exact cause was not clear and Iran’s Defense Ministry denied international media reports that the blast may be linked to the mishandling of solid fuel used for missiles.
Iran has in the past accused its arch-foe Israel of being behind cyberattacks. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Iran’s nuclear infrastructure should be entirely dismantled — not just limited to prevent the development of nuclear weapons.
In 2021, a large cyberattack on Iranian petrol stations was said by Tehran to likely be caused by Israel. In 2023, a similar but larger cyberattack disrupted about 70 percent of petrol stations, with a group called “Predatory Sparrow” claiming the attack as retaliation to “the aggression of the Islamic Republic and its proxies in the region.”
