It took just 23 seconds: Last Friday just after dawn, two masked hitmen equipped with AK-47-style assault rifles, hopped the fence to enter Nice’s wholesale distribution market: one as the lookout while the other quickly located his targets in a cafe. A burst of gunfire, and the first victim fell to the ground. The second target bolted in panic… but the executioner chased him into a cold room, and with a burst of bullets to the head, dispatched him as well. Jumping back over the fence, the two killers fled on a waiting stolen motorcycle, which was found a half-hour later in Saint-Laurent-du-Var, burnt to a crisp.
The victims were known hitmen themselves: both spent time in the slammer for a drive-by shooting of a drug dealer in Cagnes-sur-mer in 2002. This latest gangland execution is thought to be a retaliation for “Bobosse”, a major crime figure cut down last Thursday in the Var, and could signal another flurry of professional hits similar to 2010, that included two drive-by executions in the streets of downtown Nice.
Whereas this week’s Soprano’s episode seems to have its roots in Toulon and Marseilles, not coincidentally, the day before this drama, the Nice-Matin reported on the mafia infiltration of our Italian neighbor, Ventimiglia, which is so corrupt that the entire town is being placed under guardianship, with the city council disbanded and local officials relieved of their posts. The nearby town of Bordighera suffered a similar fate a year ago after a courageous city councilwoman spoke up… and then narrowly avoided a hit when a routine traffic stop revealed 4 hitmen sent from Naples with assault rifles, masks, and her photo in their pockets.
For more on this fun subject, check out next week’s issue of L’Express which has just announced a 12-page special section on the Mafia in Nice, with the back stories, rivalries, a who’s who, favorite businesses, and how new technology is changing the industry. Bada-bing.
Nice-Matin: Double meurtre au fusil d’assaut au MIN de Nice, La mafia italienne s’etend sur la cote
