2 days ago
France moves notorious drug traffickers to supermax prison in major crackdown
France on Tuesday started moving some of its most most notorious drug traffickers to a high-security prison as part of a heightened campagn against the narcotics trade.
Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said on X that 17 drug traffickers -- "among the most dangerous in our country" -- had been transferred to the prison in the northern town of Vendin-le-Vieil "under exceptional security conditions."
Seven prison vans arrived at the site on Tuesday, accompanied by police motorcycle escorts.
Darmanin has said he wants to lock up 200 of France's biggest drug traffickers in two top-security prisons, including Vendin-le-Vieil, in a bid to crack down on networks that operate from within jails.
In October, a high-security prison wing is to open in the northwest town of Conde-sur-Sarthe.
David Lacroix, who represents the FO Justice union, said that around 60 out of the 100 prisoners due to be sent to Vendin-le-Vieil are to arrive this month with the rest due by mid-September.
The prisoners come from mainland France as well as France's Caribbean territories, he added.
"Their daily lives will change," said Lacroix.
As part of the new regime, mobile phone signals will be jammed and prisoners will undergo mandatory searches after every contact with the outside world.
Thomas Vaugrand, a representative of Ufap Unsa Justice union, said the measures aimed to increase the isolation of the traffickers.
"These will be high-profile inmates," he said. "They are all prisoners who have significant financial resources on the outside and the means to continue their trafficking or order murders from their cells."
The Vendin-le-Vieil jail, one of France's two most secure prisons, has been renovated to strengthen its security further.
The exercise yard has been concreted over to prevent objects from being hidden and an airport-style body scanner installed.
Grating has been added to the bars on the cells and hatches installed on all doors so that prisoners can be handcuffed before they leave their cells.
A glass screen now prevents physical contact between inmates and visitors.
Notorious drug baron Mohamed Amra, known as "The Fly", will eventually be one of the Vendin-le-Vieil inmates.
Darmanin pushed for tougher security after an attack last year on a prison van carrying Amra in which he was freed and two prison guards killed.
