Inside the French drug gangs recruiting children to kill

It was because, along with the illegal drugs, she had been handed a note by the young seller during their brief meeting on a Marseille housing estate in 2022. The teenage dealer, a French court heard earlier this year, was one of two boys being held by a gang which they had both initially approached looking for paid work - albeit illegal. One boy had been tasked with handling money, the other worked streets around the Frais-Vallon estate. Soon though, bosses had accused them of being responsible for "shortfalls" in takings.

What followed were regular beatings, the court was told, and being forced to dance naked in front of a camera as a form of blackmail. One of the boys was also raped. Hours after the woman was passed the note, the two teenagers had tried to escape from a second-storey window, injuring themselves in the process. One managed to get away, while the other was caught, beaten and stabbed, but survived.

Arrests were made. Photos on the phone of one of the boys' alleged torturers showed several other young men in a similarly distressed condition.