Hundreds of teenagers recruited online are being exploited and often forced to work for violent drug networks in Marseille. Prosecutors and child-rights groups increasingly argue these cases amount to human trafficking rather than simple juvenile offending. Authorities have opened several trafficking-linked investigations, but legal uncertainty and limited exit pathways leave many victims unprotected. Advocates call for urgent removal from criminal environments and comprehensive rehabilitation.
Marseille Teens Trapped in Drug 'Slavery' — Calls To Treat Exploitation As Human Trafficking
Graffiti shows drug prices in the southern French city of Marseille (Miguel MEDINA)(Miguel MEDINA/AFP/AFP)
Hundreds of teenagers recruited via social media to work street-level roles for violent drug networks in Marseille are being exploited, abused and frequently held against their will, prosecutors and child-rights advocates say. Though many appear as lookouts or dealers, notes hidden in drug packets and desperate pleas to police reveal that a large number are coerced victims rather than willing participants.
How Young People Are Recruited And Controlled
Young people from across France, often estranged from their families, arrive lured by promises of quick money. Within days their phones are confiscated, they are isolated, and forced to work long hours under threat. Some are sexually assaulted, beaten or held in captivity; others are threatened with recorded footage to ensure silence.
Cases That Expose A Hidden Crisis
Prosecutors describe repeated scenes of abuse. One youth, identified only as Hakim, traveled from the Paris region at 15 and said he was stripped of his phone, forced to sleep in squalid conditions and raped after being accused of failing to warn the gang about police. He believed he had been filmed and begged officers to remove him from the network.
In another widely reported incident, two 15-year-olds who had been forced to sell drugs and beaten escaped by jumping from a second-floor window in 2022 after slipping notes into drug baggies that read:
'Hello, we're being held captive by the drug ring. Please call the police, they've been forcing us to sell for free for a month and beating us with bars. Please call the police, we need help.'
Legal And Institutional Shifts
Marseille's public prosecutor, Nicolas Bessone, now increasingly describes these situations as a form of human trafficking as authorities rethink how to classify forced criminality. The Marseille prosecutor's office has opened roughly ten investigations that include a human trafficking component, and in January Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin recommended considering cases from a trafficking perspective.
Still, prosecutions remain rare: victims seldom file complaints because of fear, intimidation and a pervasive code of silence, officials say. UNICEF has warned that under international law children who are victims of criminal exploitation should be recognised and supported as victims — not punished as juvenile offenders.
Debate And Practical Obstacles
Not all officials agree on an immediate, blanket reclassification. Celine Raignault, deputy prosecutor for minors, calls for a 'paradigm shift' but warns against removing all responsibility in cases where youths may have knowingly sought financial opportunity. Sébastien Lautard, the deputy head of Marseille police, says there is 'real ambiguity' about how to handle suspects who are simultaneously victims, particularly given a lack of clear exit pathways out of the drug trade.
Frontline workers stress urgent protective measures: remove youngsters from criminal environments, offer long-term rehabilitation and safe housing, and provide psychological and legal support. A juvenile-institution director suggested relocation to safer, rural settings where children can be treated as children again.
Calls For A New Approach
Children's rights lawyer Frédéric Asdighikian described clients who returned from captivity with untreated injuries, calling the practice 'modern-day slavery' and urging authorities to adopt new legal and social responses that recognise coercion and prioritize victims' recovery and reintegration.
As cases gain attention, French authorities face pressure to reconcile prosecution, protection and prevention: prosecuting traffickers while ensuring exploited children receive the care and legal recognition they need to escape cycles of violence.
