Two gruesome murders related to drug trafficking – involving two minors as both the perpetrator and the victim – have shaken Marseille.

One involves the murder of a taxi driver by a 14-year-old boy, who was hired to avenge the killing of a 15-year-old. That 15-year-old had been stabbed dozens of times by a drug gang operating in the city.

According to a press conference held by Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Besson, reported by the BBC, both incidents are linked to drug lords who recruit young boys to carry out killings.

15-year-old stabbed 50 times – Gang vendetta

Besson described an “unprecedented level of brutality” in the murder of the 15-year-old, connected to a feud between two gangs known as the “DZ Mafia” and the “Blacks.” A member of the DZ Mafia, currently in prison, hired the boy for 2,000 euros to “intimidate” a rival by setting fire to his door.

The teenager was tracked down by the rival Black gang, who then stabbed him and set him on fire. “He was stabbed 50 times and taken to the Fonscolombes housing estate, where he was burned alive,” Besson stated. A friend of the victim, also 15 years old, managed to escape.

The imprisoned DZ Mafia member then hired a 14-year-old through social media to avenge his rival, promising him a payment of 50,000 euros.

14-year-old kills taxi driver because he refused to wait

However, the boy shot the taxi driver, Nesim Ramdan, 36, in the head before reaching his target because the driver refused to wait while he completed his mission, Besson explained.

The imprisoned gangster who had hired the 14-year-old later called the police to turn him in. The minor was arrested and admitted to shooting the driver but claimed it was accidental.

Prosecutor Frank Rastoul of the Aix-en-Provence court of appeal warned about the scourge of drug-related violence, noting that young people are “lured by the easy money of the drug trade,” to the point of disregarding the gravity of taking a life.