Is DZ Mafia more of a 'brand' or drug trafficking 'franchise' rather than a French drug cartel?

Stuart Norval is pleased to welcome Yann Bisiou, Senior Lecturer in Private Law and Criminal Law at Paul-Valéry University Montpellier. The threats against the mayor of Arles are more than an isolated act of intimidation. They illustrate how organised criminal networks are becoming increasingly willing to fiercely take on the authority of the state in public view. Yet, rather than focusing solely on the violence itself, public drug policy specialist Bissiot argues that the incident exposes a deeper structural failure. And he asserts that the expansion of groups such as the so-called DZ Mafia is not primarily a policing problem but the predictable consequence of a prohibition model that has failed to reduce either drug consumption or the profits generated by illicit markets. Drawing on examples from countries such as Canada and Uruguay, Bissiot contends that reducing criminal revenues through state regulation, rather than continuously escalating enforcement, offers the only credible path to weakening organised crime.