Of the ten most prolific French drug lords, nearly all come from migration backgrounds, with many of them linked to North African countries such as Morocco.
The French office of narcotics has maintained a list of the top 25 most prolific drug traffickers operating in France since 2019, with the top traffickers listed as not only the most prolific but the most dangerous and willing to engage in bribery of public officials and violent settling of accounts with rivals.
Number one on the list is Moufide Bouchibi, originally from the French department of Essonne. He has been linked to Moroccan drug producers and is believed to have been the main importer of cannabis resin to France, L’Obs reports.
Nicknamed “Mouf,” Bouchibi was arrested in Dubai in March and has been on the run since being sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court in Bordeaux in 2015.
Reda Abakrim, nicknamed “Turbo,” is originally from Poissy but was arrested in December in Morocco after being on the run since 2007.
While some of the most notorious traffickers have been arrested in recent months, many are still at large. Traffickers Nordine D., “Ben de Trappes,” Bouchaib El Kacimi, Rachid El M., and Younès L. are all on the run, with several of them believed to be hiding in Morocco.
Kevin Doure is one of the few on the list not linked to North Africa, as he hails originally from the French department of Martinique in the Caribbean.
Known as the French Pablo Escobar, he worked with South American drug networks in Venezuela to import at least a ton of cocaine a month to France during the height of his operations.
He was eventually arrested and has been in prison since 2013, serving a 22-year sentence handed down in 2018. Despite his incarceration, his network is believed to still be in operation.
France’s illegal narcotics trade remains active despite the Wuhan virus lockdown restrictions imposed by the French government. In the early days of the pandemic, some feared that a lack of overseas supply would lead to violence among street dealers.
France is not the only country in Europe where migration-background individuals are heavily linked to the drug trafficking trade. In Italy, Nigerian mafia groups have rapidly increased their presence in the country and have even used asylum homes to recruit new drug couriers.