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The Guardian
15-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
French prisons hit by wave of attacks after clampdown on drug traffickers
France's national terrorism office has launched an investigation into a wave of apparently coordinated attacks at multiple prisons across the country believed to be linked to a government clampdown on drug traffickers. Gunmen with automatic weapons opened fire on the entrance to Toulon prison in southern France in the early hours of Tuesday, while in recent days cars have been set alight outside four other jails, and in Marseille a residential building housing prison guards was attacked. The attacks came as the French parliament prepares to approve a new law increasing the power of police investigating drug dealers, toughening prison conditions for convicted traffickers and creating a new prosecutors' office responsible for investigating organised crime. Soaring cocaine imports from South America to Europe have sparked drug-linked violence in France where seizures of the drug are at a historic high, police say. The drug gangs traditionally based in cities like Marseille have expanded into smaller regional towns unused to drug violence. The justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, was due to visit Toulon prison on Tuesday afternoon in a show of solidarity with staff. Darmanin said he was determined to stamp out drug kingpins' capacity to operate from behind bars and has ordered the building of two new high-security jails to hold more than 700 prisoners. 'Attempts have been made to intimidate staff in several prisons ranging from burning vehicles to firing automatic weapons. The French Republic is facing up to the problem of drug trafficking and taking measures that will massively disrupt the criminal networks,' Darmanin wrote on X. He added: 'The Republic is confronted with drug trafficking and is taking measures that will deeply disturb criminal networks. It is being challenged and will be firm and courageous.' Prisons in Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Valence, Nîmes, Luynes, Villepinte and Nanterre were also targeted. Staff unions said burnt vehicles had been found in prison car parks for several days in the runup to what appeared to be Monday night's coordinated assault. Cars have also been set alight outside the National School of Prison Administration. The legislation before the French parliament would allow prisons to hold convicted drug dealers in isolation, deprive them of collective walks and access to family life units, tap their phones and limit calls. Darmanin has also proposed giving the justice minister the power to decide whether solitary confinement orders – which must currently be renewed every three months – can be applied for up to four years, and applied not only to convicted drug traffickers but also those awaiting trial. The appointment of the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) to oversee the investigation, as opposed to the organised crime unit, suggests police believe the attacks may be the work of a militant group. PNAT said it would be working with the country's interior intelligence agency. The interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said the attacks were 'unacceptable' and ordered increased police protection of prisons and staff. In February – as he announced record cocaine seizures of 47 tonnes in the first 11 months of last year, more than double that seized in 2023 – Retailleau said France had been hit by a 'white tsunami' that had rewritten the rules of the criminal landscape.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
French prisons attacked as government cracks down on drug trafficking
April 15 (UPI) -- Several French prisons were attacked Monday night into Tuesday morning, during which cars were set on fire and one facility was struck by gunfire. French Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin posted to X Tuesday alleging that the prisons were being attacked in relation to federal efforts to crack down on drug trafficking, and that the government "is taking measures that will profoundly disrupt criminal networks." "Prisons are facing intimidation attempts ranging from vehicle burning to automatic weapon fire," he said. Institutions in Aix-En-Provence, Marseille, Valence, Villepinte, Nanterre Toulon and Nîmes were all struck by violence. A similar attack occurred Sunday at France's National School of Prison Administration that left seven cars torched. "These targeted, cowardly and abhorrent attacks are aimed at terrorizing those who embody the authority of the state and ensure the daily security of all, even at the cost of their own tranquility," said the UFAP UNSa Justice prison staff union in a press release. Drug violence in France is on the rise, with record cocaine imported from South America and drug seizures at an all-time high, and the attacks have come just as a new anti-drug law is on the docket for approval. The trafficking legislation would create a new prosecutor's office aimed at organized crime and increase the power of the police to investigate those involved in the illicit drug trade. The prison incidents are currently under investigation by France's national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office.
