France: Arrested in Morocco, Félix Bingui sentenced to 12 years over the Yoda clan

The Marseille criminal court on Friday sentenced Félix Bingui to 12 years in prison for being the head of the Yoda drug-trafficking clan. Nicknamed «Le Chat», the defendant had been arrested in 2024 in Morocco under an international arrest warrant issued by France. Along with 19 other individuals, he was accused of running one of Marseille’s main drug-dealing spots. Mohamed Hussein Saleh, described as his «right-hand man», was absent when the verdict was read and received a nine-year prison sentence, AFP reported. Prosecutors had sought sentences of 16 and 12 years, respectively.

According to the same source, the court decided not to impose the «two-thirds security period» also requested by the prosecution. In addition to the prison sentence, Félix Bingui must pay a fine of 200,000 euros. The evidence against him indicates that he ran a major drug-dealing point in the city’s northern districts between 2021 and 2023, in the La Paternelle housing estate.

The Yoda clan was later defeated by the DZ Mafia «after a bloody war between the two gangs». AFP added that Zine Eddine Belkai, the network’s «chief manager» of sales points, was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison. The other defendants were mainly «couriers, suppliers, packagers, or ‘money launderers’». Four of them were acquitted, while the others received sentences of up to six years in prison.