Felix Bingui stares on the president by means of the window of the sales space. Earlier than the seventh chamber of the felony court docket of Marseillecrushed by the warmth, the alleged chief of the Yoda clan twiddling with an elastic band between his fingers, whereas he solutions the president’s questions this Friday. The 36 year old manborn in Alès, is on trial, just like the 19 different co-defendants, for drug trafficking, felony conspiracy and cash laundering.
Nicknamed “Le Chat”, “F” and even “Féfé”, he’s offered by investigators because the boss of a robust community of drug traffickingcontrolling a number of deal factors within the Marseille metropolis between 2021 and 2023, together with the very profitable “La Fontaine” oven positioned within the city of the Father (14th district). An “simple” function as order giver, receiving cash, resolving conflicts and managing the members of his staff, in keeping with the investigation file. “I’ve all the time been made to cross for somebody I’m not,” defends the person, wearing a light-colored knitted polo shirt. I do not know why individuals say they’re afraid of me. » And added: “I’ve by no means been a violent individual. »
“They speak…”
Did Félix Bingui encourage concern in these round him? In a number of sound programs, cited by the president, girls gravitating across the gang evoke stress in addition to hyperlinks of subordination, even “submission”, between him and his co-defendants. Some are even known as his “dog-dogs”, following him throughout his journeys to Morocco, Dubai and even Thailand. “These are sentences stated to belittle,” assures the defendant. The place is submission? We’re in homes, we do actions, we eat collectively, that is it. » The thirty-year-old probably evokes a type of “age-related respect”.
“All the ladies on this file too… They speak,” annoys Félix Bingui, described as “killer”, “boss” and even organizer of “go-fast” in Spain in conversations between the latter. Within the case, co-defendant Camille Chelo, widow of Omar Benchiha, one of many alleged executives of the Yoda clan assassinated in Salou in Could 2023, makes notably virulent remarks in opposition to him, accusing him of getting not directly induced the loss of life of her husband by “taking him beneath his wing”.
Road noises
“These usually are not the primary individuals to speak about me and never the final,” says the person, his jaw extra tense. All through the day, he denounces “rumors” from the road, “gossip” circulating on social networks, designating him as “chief of this or that factor”. “I can’t management all of the individuals who speak about me,” he says a number of instances, nearly fatalistically.
Just like the day earlier than, in the course of the interrogation of Mohamed Hussein Salehpresumed right-hand man, the president questions him at size about every of his journeys and his costly life-style. “Luxurious inns in Marseille, flights to many locations, autos, a bike… How do you do it? », she questions. He talks about financial savings and particularly winnings at video games. “I’ve been in a variety of jail in my life, I wished to profit from it,” he says. In 2017, he was sentenced to 4 years for his involvement in drug trafficking led by the Carmes gang (2nd arrondissement), then he acquired two and a half years in 2019 for possession of weapons.
A struggle of clans
In 2023, 49 people were killed in Marseille in narchomicides attributed to the struggle between the Yoda clan and the DZ Mafiabolstered exit from the confrontation. A battle that Félix Bingui heard about “on social networks”, he assures, explaining “by no means having set foot” within the metropolis of La Paternelle. He says he by no means feared for his life, nor even tried to flee, even when scores have been being settled.
“I by no means left France to take refuge in a rustic as a result of I used to be afraid. I merely stayed at residence,” refutes the person who moved to Spain and Dubai earlier than settling down in Morocco, from where he was extradited in 2025. When he noticed the doorway signal to Marseille, throughout his a number of stays, nonetheless, he admitted to having typically repeated a phrase to himself. “This metropolis is giving me anxiousness. »
