Paris Police Wary Of New Threat Posed By Nigerian Gangs

They are discreet, secretive criminal organizations, bound together by codes, extremely brutal initiation rites and a hierarchical structure demanding blind obedience. In France, little is known about the Nigerian “cults,” former university student fraternities that contorted into genuine criminal mafias. According to several investigative services, their influence is gradually spreading across the country.

In Paris, their presence has not yet been documented, and existing Nigerian gangs unaffiliated with the “cults” – but which may be paving the way for their future presence – still only occupy a “limited market segment in the Paris metropolitan area, coming up against locally well-established networks,” according to a very detailed note drawn up by the Parisian judicial police, consulted by Le Monde.

The example of Marseille is a cause for concern for judicial police investigators, especially as the number of Nigerian suspects involved in drug trafficking, while still marginal, almost tripled between 2021 (20 individuals) and 2023 (59).

In and around Marseille, Nigerians began by working for well-established drug trafficking networks, starting at the bottom of the ladder as lookouts or street dealers. Then they began hiring themselves out for retaliation operations against competitors or attacks on deal points, before taking it a step further by becoming more involved in drug trafficking, to the point where, according to several local police sources, they have managed to take over and run at least one outlet, in Parc Kalliste in Marseille’s 15th arrondissement.

This tried-and-tested method had already been successfully implemented in Italy, the gateway to Europe for these criminal organizations. There, Nigerian gangs even managed to free themselves from the control of powerful criminal organizations, taking over cocaine and heroin.