Video of the day. Why the mayor of Alès, Christophe Rivenq, is threatened with death by the DZ Mafia
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the many messages of support. (…) One thing is certain, fear will never overcome my determination. I will continue, with the same firmness, the fight against drug trafficking and those who want to intimidate the Republic. » Christophe Rivenq, LR mayor of Alès (Gard), a town of 46,000 inhabitants, is threatened by the DZ Mafia. To the point of being under police protection and even having been exfiltrated from his house during the night from Monday to Tuesday after a suspected car bomb.
On July 16, the councilor received two 9 mm bullets accompanied by a letter signed by the “DZNG” (DZ Mafia new generation). A first in France. Tags of threats and insults were made near his home: “FDP”, “NTM”. Why is the criminal group, mainly based in Marseille, targeting this mayor?
Christophe Rivenq entered politics in 1992 and became a collaborator of Max Roustan, who was elected mayor of Alès in 1995 at the head of an apolitical list. A shock in this city long managed by the Communist Party. L’Alésien became his chief of staff until 2014, then he managed the city and Alès Agglomération services. At the same time, in 2010, he was elected regional councilor. In 2020, still alongside Max Roustan, he was elected first deputy and president of Alès Agglomération. His mentor is already preparing his follow-up, and putting him forward to voters. This allows him to be largely elected mayor (LR label) in 2025, with 55.54% of the votes.
Alès, a territory “highly coveted” by narcos
Drug trafficking becomes one of the new mayor’s major problems from the summer of 2025, while gangs, like DZ Mafia or Yoda, try to develop. “Alès is a very coveted territory,” confirmed Laurent Nuñez, Minister of the Interior, on Tuesday. The DZ Mafia, known for its aggressive methods, is developing with parallel clans: here the Cévennes branch of the DZNG which is trying to supplant local sales networks.
Christophe Rivenq does not want to give in “neither to fate nor to habit”. At the beginning of June, he obtained support from Laurent Nuñez, as he indicated on Instagram. “I have obtained confirmation of a reinforcement of the personnel deployed in the territory,” he wrote. “Faced with trafficking and violence, their mobilization produces concrete results and must continue with the same determination. »
“Like many medium-sized towns in France, we are not spared from drug trafficking,” specifies the city councilor. Figaro. “We experienced the arrival of the DZ Mafia and its wars of influence with other networks. Local public action is very strong and we have had excellent results with the Alès public prosecutor’s office and the sub-prefect. »
“We are the last bastion of the Republic”
The latest developments were that an 18-year-old boy was shot and killed in a neighborhood plagued by traffic at the beginning of June. And a 21-year-old man was sentenced on July 20 to 18 months in prison, 15 of which were closed, after the discovery of four kilos of cannabis resin in a squatted apartment. “Drug trafficking is the consequence of society’s drift. He took with him a whole wasted generation, between those who consume and those who live off it,” he continues at Figaro. “As mayor, I don’t consider myself a sheriff. But we are the last bastion of the Republic in the face of all that. »
“I didn’t expect to experience this at all and I would have done without it,” the mayor told the press and on his social networks. “This shows that the actions we are taking against the DZ and drug trafficking are bearing fruit. (…) I will not let myself be intimidated. We protect ourselves best by remaining upright. » “We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated,” added the Minister of the Interior on Tuesday. “The State will continue to fight against drug trafficking. »
