Marseille’s Young Activist Faces Down Gangs and Death Threats in Political Bid
Amine Kessaci, a 22-year-old activist in Marseille, France, is making waves in the upcoming municipal elections by campaigning on an anti-drug platform. This bold move comes despite facing death threats and the devastating loss of two brothers to drug gang violence. Kessaci’s commitment is deeply personal, fuelled by the grief of burying his older brother, Brahim, who was found burned in 2020, and his younger brother, Mehdi, who was killed less than three months ago, simply for being related to him.
“In the mourning I’m going through, the message I want to convey is that I will not be silent,” Kessaci, the son of Algerian immigrants, told the Associated Press. His determination comes from a community that has long been a focal point for France’s drug trade.
The issue hit national headlines in November when thousands marched in Marseille, France’s second-most populous city, to protest drug trafficking. The march followed the killing of 20-year-old Mehdi Kessaci, a shooting authorities suspect was a targeted hit by drug gangs aiming to intimidate his activist brother.
Kessaci and his siblings grew up in Frais Vallon, a large housing project built in the 1960s for Marseille’s North African immigrant population. This area, home to some 6,000 residents, many living in poverty, comprises 14 concrete apartment towers. These towers are notoriously controlled by drug gangs, making Frais Vallon one of the most crime-ridden neighbourhoods in France.
Kessaci’s older brother, Brahim, was involved in drug dealing in Frais Vallon when he was killed in 2020. His body was discovered in a burned-out car. At just 17 years old, Amine Kessaci founded the non-profit organisation Conscience. This group aims to support families impacted by drug violence, working to prevent young people in housing projects from facing what the organisation describes as a fate of “failure, prison or the grave.”
With cocaine trafficking at unprecedented levels across France, Kessaci, now a law student, is channelling his energy into local politics to confront drug dealers directly. The Interior Ministry reported 110 drug-related homicides nationwide in 2024, with an additional 341 people injured in such crimes. A significant concern for the government is the increasing recruitment of minors into drug gangs, who are often lured by the prospect of lighter prison sentences compared to adults.
The Grim Reality of Youth and Drug Gangs
The statistics paint a stark picture:
- In 2024, a quarter of those imprisoned for murder or attempted murder were teenagers, including 16 minors.
- The year prior, minors constituted 19% of drug trafficking suspects, with some as young as 12 or 13.
- In Marseille, a 14-year-old employed by gangsters tragically killed a taxi driver in 2024. In another horrific incident, a teenager was stabbed 50 times and then burned alive, according to the Interior Ministry.
“Drug trafficking leaves a trail of grief and death,” Kessaci stated, underscoring the human cost of this pervasive problem. He is running as part of the list supporting Marseille’s outgoing left-wing mayor, Benoît Payan, in the upcoming elections on March 15 and March 22.
Living Under Threat: Protection and Persistence
A report from an independent French public funds auditing body indicates that drug trafficking remains concentrated in a small percentage of French municipalities, but its rapid spread, even into rural areas, is raising concerns ahead of the March elections.
Kessaci has been under police protection even before his youngest brother’s death. He attended Mehdi’s funeral in November wearing a bulletproof vest. More recently, he was forced to leave a campaign event in Aix-en-Provence due to threats. The anti-organised crime prosecutors office announced an investigation into a plot targeting Kessaci.
Despite these dangers, Kessaci remains resolute, vowing not to be intimidated and to continue campaigning openly. “In France in 2026, in a state governed by the rule of law, you cannot prevent people from coming and going,” he asserted. “I will be in the field because my commitment was born in the field, and the ideology, the idea, the causes I defend, they are in the field and they require presence.”
Kessaci is no stranger to the political arena. At just 20 years old, he ran as a candidate for a coalition of left-leaning parties in national legislative elections two years ago, narrowly losing a seat in the National Assembly in the second round to a far-right candidate.
A Grass-Roots Approach to Tackling ‘Narcocracy’
Kessaci champions a community-focused approach, contrasting with the far-right. His strategy centres on improving the very neighbourhoods that drug gangs exploit. Key initiatives include enhancing schools, public transportation, and other essential services.
He advocates for the introduction of locally based police forces in impoverished areas. These officers would work collaboratively with communities to dismantle the so-called “narcocracy” – the pervasive influence and power wielded by drug traffickers who intimidate neighbourhoods and lure young people into their networks with the promise of quick money.
“The ‘narcocracy’ is this power they have to influence our lives: to block entrances to housing projects, to control who can come and go, to instill a sense of terror,” Kessaci explained. He acknowledged the “certain intelligence” displayed by drug traffickers in establishing this control.
Rebuilding Communities: Beyond Law Enforcement
According to the European Union Drugs Agency, France has one of the highest rates of lifetime cocaine use in the EU. While Kessaci recognises the necessity of a robust police response, he also believes in transforming low-income housing projects through comprehensive strategies. These include:
- Education and Job Training: Providing young people with viable alternatives to gang involvement.
- Revitalising Local Businesses: Fostering economic growth within the community.
- Creating Employment Opportunities: Specifically targeting youth unemployment.
To improve the relationship between law enforcement and residents, Kessaci proposes doubling the police force in Marseille to 1,600 officers, with substations established in every city district.
Furthermore, he aims to significantly enhance living conditions in housing projects by introducing more green spaces and undertaking much-needed renovations. Even seemingly minor changes, such as replacing mobile trash dumpsters with fixed bins, have strategic importance. “This will allow us to restore recycling in neighbourhoods and, more importantly, to remove equipment from drug dealers, since they use the bins to create blockades,” Kessaci pointed out.
Despite notable successes by French authorities in combating organised crime – with homicides in Marseille dropping from 49 in 2023 to 24 in 2024, and drug-dealing locations halved from 160 to around 80 – Kessaci remains unwavering in his fight.
“In this election, in this campaign, in this political struggle, my only enemy is drug trafficking,” Kessaci declared, signalling his singular focus on eradicating the scourge that has impacted his life and community so profoundly.
