March 30, 2026

A Paris court on Monday began hearings in a major trial involving 22 suspects accused of murder and other serious crimes on behalf of a mafia network inside the Athanor Masonic Lodge in the Paris suburb of Puteaux. The accused include police officers, former French intelligence agents and businessmen.

Twenty-two people went on trial in France on Monday on charges of murder and other serious crimes centred on members of a Masonic lodge accused of running hit squads.

Thirteen of the defendants face life imprisonment.

Those in the dock include four military personnel from France’s foreign intelligence service (DGSE), two police officers, a retired domestic intelligence officer, a security guard and two business executives.

In what sounds like the plot of a particularly dull James Bond spinoff directed by Kafka, 22 distinguished members of French society—ranging from intelligence agents moonlighting as hitmen to businessmen who clearly took ‘networking’ a bit too literally—face trial for running a mafia from the exclusive Athanor Masonic Lodge in Puteaux, proving once again that if you want a criminal cabal in France, just add secret handshakes and a dash of bureaucratic cover-up. With thirteen hoping for a life in prison and the rest auditioning for a remake of The Godfather: Blue Blood Edition, it turns out the real conspiracy is how no one noticed a murder ring operating in plain sight amidst the promised land of freemason secrecy, proving the French justice system’s motto: “Justice delayed is just good dramatic timing.”

Leave a Reply