A 15-year-old boy was brutally murdered in a harrowing incident that has sent shockwaves through the southern French city of Marseille, in what appears to be a drug-related crime.

The teenager was "stabbed 50 times" and subsequently burned alive, as reported by prosecutors on Sunday. This gruesome act is part of a larger pattern of escalating drug-related violence in Marseille, France's second-largest city, which has been plagued by turf wars among various drug clans, including the notorious DZ Mafia.

The young victim was allegedly recruited by a 23-year-old prisoner from the Luynes penitentiary near Aix-en-Provence. The prisoner, identified as a member of the DZ Mafia, had hired the boy via social media to intimidate a rival gang member by setting fire to his door, promising him a payment of 2,000 euros.

However, the plan took a tragic turn when members of a rival gang discovered the teenager carrying a gun. In a brutal act of retribution, they stabbed him repeatedly before setting him on fire at the Fonscolombes housing estate.

This murder is one of two recent killings that have highlighted the increasing involvement of minors in Marseille's drug wars. Just days after the teenager's death, a 36-year-old football player named Nessim Ramdane was shot and killed by a 14-year-old, in an attack linked to the same prisoner who orchestrated the first crime. The minor, who was promised 50,000 euros for the hit, claimed the shooting was accidental.

These incidents signifies a disturbing trend in Marseille, where both victims and perpetrators of drug-related violence are becoming alarmingly younger. The city's prosecutor, Nicolas Bessone, described the teenager's murder as an act of "unprecedented savagery," reflecting the dire state of affairs in a city struggling with the ravages of drug trafficking. As of this year, the number of drug-related killings in Marseille has risen to 17, following a record 49 deaths in 2023.