The mid-April burning of vehicles belonging to prison guards, gunfire toward prisons, and discovery of enigmatic graffiti reading "DDPF," for "defense of French prisoners' rights," was initially considered as possibly linked to the far left or even foreign intervention.

After two weeks of investigation and about 30 arrests, the looming threat behind these violent and coordinated attacks is a more familiar one: organized crime and, more specifically, drug traffickers.

The recent attacks are described by investigators as aligning with the usual modus operandi for recruitment and task execution by organized crime groups. While the acronym "DDPF" initially puzzled investigators, the method used to carry out the acts of intimidation pointed to the "pressure tactics" drug traffickers frequently commit using young, inexperienced operatives, paid a few hundred or thousand euros for their services. In fact, several "runners," usually employed at drug dealing points, appear to have been involved in the recent attacks on prisons.

Investigators now believe the DZ Mafia, a network born in Marseille but with expansionist aims, to be behind this operation. On Friday, May 2, 21 suspects were charged. Many of them are described as executors – the rank and file of drug trafficking.

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