Security Services Declare Coordinated Campaign on Neighborhood Gangs

Algeria’s security services have launched a more coordinated and forceful campaign against neighborhood gangs, moving beyond the sporadic operations previously carried out separately by the police and the gendarmerie.

The campaign forms part of a stringent security strategy aimed at dismantling criminal networks operating in urban areas, where they have increasingly threatened citizens’ safety, spread fear among residents and expanded their activities to the distribution of drugs and psychotropic substances.

The operation follows directives from President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, who has repeatedly stressed that the state will continue its relentless fight against neighborhood gangs. Security services, he has said, remain fully mobilized for this purpose, reaffirming the state’s commitment to protecting families and their children.

Police and gendarmerie units are now conducting what authorities describe as a “joint war” against neighborhood gangs, carrying out targeted raids on the hideouts of organized criminal groups. The operations are aimed not only at protecting public security but also at preserving social peace, as some of these gangs have become involved in murder, assaults involving bladed weapons, drug trafficking and attempts to impose their own law and “leadership” over residents.

Raids across the country
Security services in provinces across Algeria have carried out a series of successive operations against neighborhood gangs and criminal cells. In Algiers, for example, security units conducted large-scale operations on Monday night, coinciding with the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (El Mawlid El Nabawi Echarif ), targeting 13 administrative security districts across the capital.

The raids resulted in the arrest of a significant number of suspects and the seizure of various types of bladed weapons, quantities of drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as proceeds from criminal activities. Vehicles and other equipment used to carry out assaults or facilitate criminal operations were also confiscated.

According to the Algiers security authorities, six criminal networks comprising 42 people were dismantled. Some of those arrested had previous criminal records and were allegedly operating as part of neighborhood gangs that had spread fear among residents of the capital.

Authorities seized 58 prohibited bladed weapons of various types, along with psychotropic substances and hard drugs, including cocaine. The haul also included flares, three marine distress signals, tear-gas canisters and 218,000 Algerian dinars in cash, representing proceeds from drug trafficking.

Following the completion of the required legal procedures, the suspects were brought before the competent public prosecutor on charges including forming a criminal association and a neighborhood gang, spreading terror in an urban environment, disturbing public order and possessing psychotropic substances for the purpose of sale.

The National Gendarmerie has also stepped up operations. In coordination with its specialized units, gendarmerie forces raided gang hideouts in several municipalities west of Algiers, dismantling members of the networks and arresting a number of suspects.

Those detained were taken to gendarmerie units, where they underwent detailed searches and identity checks through the National Gendarmerie’s identification systems. The checks reportedly revealed individuals wanted by the authorities, while others were arrested in the act of selling drugs. Several additional suspects were already under surveillance as part of ongoing investigations.

Public support
The operations, described by some Algerians on social media as the “legendary raid,” have reportedly received widespread public support.

Citizens across various social-media platforms have voiced their backing for the security services’ efforts, arguing that the state has regained the initiative in confronting a phenomenon that has alarmed Algerian families in recent years, particularly in neighborhoods that have experienced repeated outbreaks of violence.

Videos and photographs published on the official pages of the police and National Gendarmerie have also attracted significant engagement. Many users said the footage demonstrated the professionalism of the security forces and sent a clear message that the state remains firmly present and that those responsible for criminal acts will be held accountable.

The nationwide campaign comes as members of the National Committee for the Prevention of Neighborhood Gangs have been appointed under a decision issued by the Ministry of the Interior, Local Authorities and Transport, published in the latest issue of the Official Gazette.

What Algerian law defines as a neighborhood gang
Algeria’s legal framework provides a specific definition of a “neighborhood gang.” Under Ordinance No. 20-03 of August 30, 2020, concerning the prevention and combating of neighborhood gangs, the term refers to any group, regardless of its name, consisting of two or more people from one or more residential neighborhoods, that commits one or more acts with the aim of creating an atmosphere of insecurity in residential areas or elsewhere, or of imposing control over them.

The law covers acts involving physical or psychological aggression, endangering another person’s life, liberty or security, or violating their property, particularly when bladed weapons are carried or used, whether openly or concealed.

The same legislation defines psychological assault as any verbal attack capable of causing fear or terror, including threats, insults, defamation, intimidation or depriving another person of a right.

It also defines a bladed weapon broadly as any cutting or piercing machine, tool or device, as well as any object capable of causing bodily harm or injury or posing a threat to public security under Algeria’s applicable weapons legislation and regulations.

Tough criminal penalties
The law provides severe penalties for those involved in neighborhood gangs. Under its criminal provisions, anyone who establishes or organizes a neighborhood gang, joins or participates in one while aware of its purpose, or recruits one or more people on its behalf may face three to 10 years in prison and a fine ranging from 300,000 to 1 million Algerian dinars.

The legislation also provides for harsher punishment when violence results in death. Article 25 stipulates that life imprisonment may be imposed when a brawl, riot or gathering results in the death of a person who is not a member of the gang.

Where a person is assaulted or injured during such a brawl, riot or gathering, the law provides for two to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of between 200,000 and 700,000 Algerian dinars.

With the police and gendarmerie now operating in tandem across the country, the campaign marks a significant escalation in Algeria’s efforts to dismantle neighborhood gangs and reassert state authority in residential areas where organized street crime has become a growing source of public concern.