Overview
- Hacène Larbi, 24, went on trial in Paris on Monday, accused of recruiting minors for paid attacks in Marseille, and he is being tried alongside two co-defendants.
- Prosecutors say Larbi ran the operation from a cell in Réau prison by posting offers on Snapchat and managing a group called Pirates that gathered the players and gave orders.
- Investigators report he sent a 17-year-old to Marseille on June 10, 2023, with a promise of tens of thousands of euros to shoot rivals in a turf dispute, but the teen instead stabbed a 20-year-old passerby and fled.
- Police searching a linked hideout later found a Kalashnikov rifle and drugs, and co-defendant Lola D. is accused of driving the teen to the site and handing him a black outfit as part of the logistics.
- The teen is due before a juvenile court in June after experts said his judgment was abolished, and Larbi is also implicated in a separate probe into an October 2024 ride-hail driver’s murder carried out by a minor who has since been sentenced.