On the murder of Mehdi Kessaci: urgent need for ambitious European action against drug trafficking

B100059/2026

European Parliament resolution on the murder of Mehdi Kessaci: urgent need for ambitious European action against drug trafficking

(2025/3020(RSP))

– having regard to the statement made by the Commission at the plenary sitting of 15 December 2025,

– having regard to the new drugs strategy published by the Commission on 4 December 2025,

– having regard to the EU action plan against drug trafficking published by the Commission on 4 December 2025,

– having regard to the European Drug Report 2025 by the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA),

– having regard to the report by Europol and the EUDA entitled ‘EU Drug Markets Analysis 2024: Key insights for policy and practice’,

– having regard to Europol’s 2025 European Union Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (2025 EU-SOCTA),

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas Mehdi Kessaci, a 20-year-old man from Marseille, was shot dead in November 2025 in a targeted attack by armed men on a motorbike; whereas investigators believe the murder was a deliberate act of intimidation linked not to Mehdi himself, but to his older brother Amine Kessaci, a prominent anti-drug activist; whereas the murder has shocked France, triggered major public protests under the slogan ‘Justice for Mehdi’ and provoked strong political reactions, and whereas the authorities are treating the case as an act linked to organised crime and as a symbol of the escalation of violence by drug trafficking gangs in Marseille;

B. whereas, on 14 May 2024, the convoy taking drug trafficker Mohamed Amra to a court in Rouen was ambushed by a heavily armed group which used a car to ram the vehicle transporting him and then helped him escape; whereas two prison officers were killed and two others were disabled for life as a result of the attack; whereas Mohamed Amra was caught nine months later in Romania;

C. whereas 40 % of criminal networks and 50 % of homicides in Europe, i.e. 1 800 to 2 200 in 2025, are linked to drug trafficking; whereas minors are often involved in networks as lookouts or sellers so as to take advantage of more lenient criminal penalties;

D. whereas more than 8 500 people in the EU died of an overdose in 2025;

E. whereas several EU countries, including France, Belgium and the Netherlands, have recently identified drug trafficking as a priority threat to national security or to institutions and have taken action on the basis of this; whereas, in 2023-2024, more than 230 illegal production sites and dumps were dismantled, mainly in Belgium and the Netherlands;

F. whereas drug use is a health scourge affecting all sections of the population and has disastrous consequences, particularly for young people; whereas even ‘soft’ drugs are addictive and have short-, medium- and long-term consequences for cognitive and psychomotor abilities;

G. whereas the EUDA estimates that the illegal drug trade in the EU is worth at least EUR 31-35 billion annually, including around EUR 12.1 billion for cannabis, EUR 11.6 billion for cocaine and EUR 5-7 billion for heroin and synthetic drugs; whereas the estimated cost of the drug trade when it comes to public spending – health, safety, justice – is around EUR 30 billion; whereas, taking into account negative externalities such as corruption, money laundering and loss of productivity in the EU, the overall negative impact of the trade is estimated to be around 1 % of EU GDP;

H. whereas ports – such as those in Marseille, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg and Gioia Tauro – are well-known entry points for drugs; whereas 70 to 80 % of drugs enter the EU via commercial ports; whereas, according to Europol’s 2025 EU-SOCTA report, there is corruption in almost all major European ports, making it possible for some checks to be circumvented; whereas, 419 tonnes of cocaine were seized in the EU in 2023, and a total of more than 1 800 tonnes between 2019 and 2024;

I. whereas drugs from South America transit through the EU’s outermost regions, such as French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique;

J. whereas drug trafficking has become a global threat; whereas drug trafficking finances local and international criminal, paramilitary and terrorist organisations;

K. whereas several countries, including the United States, Canada and countries in Latin America, have recently designated several transnational drug cartels as terrorist organisations;

L. whereas Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban and other Islamist terrorist organisations are financed by drug trafficking;

1. Condemns the murder of Mehdi Kessaci; extends its full support to his family, and in particular his brother Amine Kessaci, a prominent anti-drug activist; expresses its deepest sadness and full solidarity with the families of the innocent victims of drug trafficking; strongly supports all the courageous voices speaking out against the scourge of drug trafficking and drug-related violence in their communities;

2. Points out that the fight against drugs is a matter of public policy, security, territorial control, public health and good governance; points out that drug trafficking is generally linked to other forms of organised crime, including trafficking in arms and human beings, but that it is also linked to certain terrorist organisations, including those involved in international Islamist terrorism; points out that drug cartels also use illegal immigration routes; points out that the fight against drug trafficking must therefore be included in broader strategies on zero tolerance, the fight against organised crime, mafias and terrorism;

3. Points out that drug trafficking represents a systemic risk when money laundering reaches 2 to 5 % of national GDP, with drug money becoming a fully fledged driver of growth in the formal economy; points out that the infiltration, corruption or intimidation of politicians, civil servants, journalists, law enforcement officials and members of the judiciary poses a major risk to the rule of law; points out that, according to the EUDA, corruption is a critical threat when 10-15 % of the staff in a key location such as a port area are compromised or under influence; points out that several politicians, including former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, have been directly threatened by drug trafficking gangs;

4. Takes the view that, where permitted under national law, membership of an organisation related to drug trafficking, regardless of the level of responsibility, should be regarded as a crime punishable by deprivation of nationality; calls on the Member States to reconsider the age of criminal responsibility or to consider parental responsibility in cases of drug trafficking;

5. Calls on the Member States to align national anti-drug-trafficking legislation with Italian anti-mafia laws, in particular as regards the seizure of assets related to drug trafficking and money laundering and the creation of specific incarceration systems for drug traffickers; also calls on the Member States to use seized assets to finance the fight against drug trafficking, prevention, rehabilitation of offenders and former users, and assistance to the victims of gangs; emphasises that in many Member States new approaches might be needed to prevent prison sentences from effectively becoming stepping stones towards more serious crime;

6. Calls for closer police, judicial and intelligence cooperation within the EU and with international partners, in particular with Latin America, the Balkan countries and the Maghreb countries, to combat drug cartels; calls for penalties to be imposed on countries, firms and individuals that have links with multinational drug companies or allow them to thrive; calls, lastly, for the role of Frontex in the surveillance of the EU’s maritime borders to be strengthened, in particular in the Mediterranean, as part of the fight against drugs, with the aim of dismantling the logistical and financial infrastructure of organised crime;

7. Calls for the targeted strengthening of checks, security and the fight against corruption in European ports; welcomes, in this regard, the establishment of the European Ports Alliance, the new drugs strategy and the EU action plan on drugs;

8. Points out that the new drugs strategy calls on the Member States to adopt zero-tolerance policies on driving under the influence of drugs, in accordance with Directive 2006/126/EC on driving licences, and to make full use of the cross-border tools available to enforce those rules;

9. Emphasises that AI can play a role in identifying points of sale or points at which the use and sale of drugs is being promoted, in particular by means of social media or artistic content;

10. Takes the view that consumers have a responsibility and that policy to combat drugs must involve prevention and the provision of accurate information on the health, cognitive and behavioural consequences of drug use, particularly for minors; emphasises that the fight against drugs is not an ideology and must remain pragmatic, with a focus on education, especially parental education, personal responsibility and the involvement of voluntary associations and local and community stakeholders;

11. Emphasises that the fight against drug trafficking must not be used as a pretext to curb civil liberties, the right to privacy or the use of cash;

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.