A mayor in southern France was urgently removed from his home overnight and placed under police protection after authorities received credible intelligence about a planned attack by the country’s most powerful drug gang, officials announced Tuesday.
The situation represents a significant turning point in France’s ongoing struggle against surging drug-related crime, fueled in part by years of record cocaine shipments arriving from Latin America. While deadly gang violence has become increasingly frequent across France, targeting elected officials remains unusual.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said he personally ordered the removal of Alès mayor Christophe Rivenq after intelligence indicated an attack by members of the DZ Mafia was imminent.
“Alès is clearly a place where the DZ Mafia is trying to establish a foothold,” Nunez told reporters.
The DZ Mafia originated in Marseille, roughly 160 kilometers — about 99 miles — south of Alès. The gang has rapidly expanded from a regional operation into one of the most serious security threats facing France, largely through its grip on the drug trade.
This was not the first warning sign. Earlier this month, 9mm bullets were discovered in Rivenq’s mailbox, and threatening graffiti was spray-painted on the walls of his home, according to France’s National Prosecutor’s Office for the Fight Against Organized Crime, known as PNACO.
PNACO, a recently established unit specifically created to combat the DZ Mafia and France’s broader drug crime surge, announced it has taken over the investigation from prosecutors in Marseille.
Mayor Rivenq did not respond to a request for comment sent through his LinkedIn account.
The scale of France’s illegal drug market has grown dramatically in recent years. According to a December 2025 report from the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, the market’s estimated value nearly tripled between 2010 and 2023, climbing from approximately €2.3 billion to €6.8 billion.
