Latest news with #Oportik
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
Tiny Chinese phones used to order hit jobs from prison
Tiny Chinese-made phones are being smuggled into French prisons and used by inmates to order hit jobs and drug deals, police have said. Prison cells were raided across the country on Tuesday as authorities launched a search for hundreds of imported devices. Dubbed Operation Prison Break, investigators began searching 500 cells in 66 detention centres on Tuesday morning, looking for tiny mobile phones that are no bigger than a cigarette lighter and available to buy for as little as £16. Also known as 'suppositories', the phones are often smuggled by mules inside their bodies and passed on to inmates in visiting rooms, according to Le Monde. Made mostly of plastic, the phones usually don't set off metal detectors, making them even harder to detect. The sweeping searches are part of a crackdown against criminals who are too often able to continue to operate and orchestrate crime while behind bars. 'Investigations have established that some of these telephones were used to commit crimes from inside detention, including drugs trafficking, racketeering, arson and attempted murder,' a statement from the prosecutor's office said. The main supplier, French retailer Oportik, based in Drancy in Seine-Saint-Denis, is said to have sold 5,000 of these mini phones alone. While the phones are legal in France, it is a crime to supply a prisoner with a phone. Oportik's website has been shut down, it has been ordered to stop trading and three of its staff members have been arrested. Archived pages of its website promote the ultra-small phones as 'completely undetectable'. 'All our products are prepared to the maximum (unpacked) and tested so as not to set off metal detectors,' the description said. The L8star was marketed as the smallest phone on the market and the 'benchmark' of ultra-compact mini phones. 'Thanks to its low weight and small size, the L8star is easy to carry and will slip anywhere for optimal discretion,' it said. To pass security undetected, the phones are stripped of most metal parts. On its website, the retailer said it aimed to make everyday life easier for lawyers, judges and security personnel who regularly have to pass through metal detectors. 'In your line of work, you regularly have to remove your mobile phones and other accessories as you pass through security gates. Simplify your life and opt for discreet, space-saving equipment. Our products are also aimed at the general public, who are looking for a high-performance, space-saving device.' But on the Oportik Snapchat account, posts include photos from satisfied customers currently in prison. One photo captioned 'Well received' is tagged Fleury-Mérogis Penitentiary Centre located in the department of Essonne. Despite their size, the phones are capable of texting, storing up to 250 phone numbers, and last for an hour's worth of talk time. Similar phones on the public market include voice modification features, which authorities note is particularly useful for extortion or making telephone threats. In 2024, more than 40,000 mobile phones were seized in French prisons, Gérald Darmanin, the justice minister, said. Some prisons have installed mobile phone jamming systems but they have been criticised for being ineffective. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
20-05-2025
- Telegraph
Tiny Chinese phones used to order hit jobs from prison
Tiny Chinese-made phones are being smuggled into French prisons and used by inmates to order hit jobs and drug deals, police have said. Prison cells were raided across the country on Tuesday as authorities launched a search for hundreds of imported devices. Dubbed Operation Prison Break, investigators began searching 500 cells in 66 detention centres on Tuesday morning, looking for tiny mobile phones that are no bigger than a cigarette lighter and available to buy for as little as £16. Also known as 'suppositories', the phones are often smuggled by mules inside their bodies and passed on to inmates in visiting rooms, according to Le Monde. Made mostly of plastic, the phones usually don't set off metal detectors, making them even harder to detect. The sweeping searches are part of a crackdown against criminals who are too often able to continue to operate and orchestrate crime while behind bars. 'Investigations have established that some of these telephones were used to commit crimes from inside detention, including drugs trafficking, racketeering, arson and attempted murder,' a statement from the prosecutor's office said. The main supplier, French retailer Oportik, based in Drancy in Seine-Saint-Denis, is said to have sold 5,000 of these mini phones alone. While the phones are legal in France, it is a crime to supply a prisoner with a phone. Oportik's website has been shut down, it has been ordered to stop trading and three of its staff members have been arrested. Archived pages of its website promote the ultra-small phones as 'completely undetectable'. 'All our products are prepared to the maximum (unpacked) and tested so as not to set off metal detectors,' the description said. The L8star was marketed as the smallest phone on the market and the 'benchmark' of ultra-compact mini phones. 'Thanks to its low weight and small size, the L8star is easy to carry and will slip anywhere for optimal discretion,' it said. To pass security undetected, the phones are stripped of most metal parts. On its website, the retailer said it aimed to make everyday life easier for lawyers, judges and security personnel who regularly have to pass through metal detectors. 'In your line of work, you regularly have to remove your mobile phones and other accessories as you pass through security gates. Simplify your life and opt for discreet, space-saving equipment. Our products are also aimed at the general public, who are looking for a high-performance, space-saving device.' But on the Oportik Snapchat account, posts include photos from satisfied customers currently in prison. One photo captioned 'Well received' is tagged Fleury-Mérogis Penitentiary Centre located in the department of Essonne. Despite their size, the phones are capable of texting, storing up to 250 phone numbers, and last for an hour's worth of talk time. Similar phones on the public market include voice modification features, which authorities note is particularly useful for extortion or making telephone threats. In 2024, more than 40,000 mobile phones were seized in French prisons, Gérald Darmanin, the justice minister, said. Some prisons have installed mobile phone jamming systems but they have been criticised for being ineffective.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
France launches operation in 66 prisons to seize mini-mobile phones
French authorities launched a major operation Tuesday to crack down on the use of miniature mobile phones in prisons nationwide, searching 66 jails across the country in a bid to seize thousands of the devices. The operation, called "Prison Break", aims to seize "miniature telephones put into circulation by a Chinese company and resold in France", Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said. The raids come after the use of the devices was blamed for lawlessness in prisons, with detainees still masterminding drug deals and even contract killings while behind bars. Searches for the 5,000 such phones estimated to be on French territory had been authorised in around 500 cells, the prosecutor said. She said the tiny phones -- the size of a cigarette lighter -- had been resold by a French supplier called Oportik, whose website has now been blocked by the authorities after its domain name was seized. The prosecutor emphasised it was against the law to give any kind of phone to a detainee. But in 2023 alone, 53,000 devices and accessories were seized, according to the prison administration. And in 2024, more than 40,000, according to figures released by the justice ministry in January. - 'Designed to bypass prison security' - The phones can be brought in by relatives during visits, by using drones that are a growing problem for prison authorities, by throwing packages over prison walls, or on occasion even with the help of prison officers. The devices are marketed as being undetectable by security at the entrances to jails. "Investigations have established that some of these phones have been used to commit drug trafficking offences, fraud, damage to businesses by fire and attempted murder from inside prisons," Beccuau said. France's right-leaning government has been under pressure to restore security in prisons after convicted drug trafficker Mohamed Amra, known as "The Fly", escaped detention in May last year. The tightly coordinated breakout left two prison officers dead. Amra was finally arrested in Romania after evading arrest for nine months and extradited to France. Last month, a series of coordinated attacks struck French prisons, including the torching of cars and automatic gunfire targeting some sites, with mysterious inscriptions often left behind. Prosecutors blamed the attacks on drug traffickers. The operation is aimed at "seizing, in a coordinated manner, mobile phones specifically designed to bypass prison security in nearly 70 French prisons," Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said. "This is a continuation of the tough prison policy we are pursuing, particularly against organised crime," he added. edy-sjw/ekf/js
BBC News
20-05-2025
- BBC News
French police launch prison hunt for Chinese-made miniature phones
French authorities have launched a nationwide hunt for thousands of tiny Chinese-made telephones used by convicts to continue criminal activities from inside telephones, no bigger than a cigarette-lighter, are almost entirely plastic, and have a reputation for being virtually invisible to metal Operation Prison Break, announced on Tuesday by the cyber crime branch of the Paris prosecutor's office, prison officers have been authorised to conduct searches in 500 cells in 66 detention to Le Monde newspaper, the devices were nicknamed "suppositories" by prison inmates because of their ease of concealment. "Investigations have established that some of these telephones were used to commit crimes from inside detention, including drugs trafficking, racketeering, arson and attempted murder," a statement from the prosecutor's office French supplier of the devices – a company called Oportik – has been stopped from trading and three staff members arrested. It is believed to have sold about 5,000 of the phones, the cheapest of which cost just €20 (£16.84). France's Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin has pledged to crack down on drug gangs and other criminal organisations, whose leaders he said are too often able to continue to conduct operating even after being 2024 some 40,000 mobile phones were confiscated in prisons. Conventional devices are projected over prison walls or dropped by drones. Others are smuggled in by corrupt prison staff. Phone-jamming is deployed in some jails, but there are doubts about its mini-phones are manufactured in large numbers in China, according to Le Monde. While they are themselves perfectly legal in France, it is a crime to supply a prisoner with a French prosecutor's office said it had passed information on how it traced the Oportik phones to the EU's judicial cooperation agency Eurojust, so that other countries can conduct similar clampdowns.
Daily Tribune
20-05-2025
- Daily Tribune
France launches operation in 66 prisons to seize mini-mobile phones: prosecutor
French authorities on Tuesday launched a major operation to crack down on the use of miniature mobile phones in prisons nationwide, searching 66 jails across the country in a bid to seize thousands of the devices. The operation, called "Prison Break", aims to seize "miniature telephones put into circulation by a Chinese company and resold in France", said Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau. The raids come after the use of the devices was blamed for lawlessness in prisons, with detainees still masterminding drugs deals and even contract killings while behind bars. Searches for the 5,000 such phones estimated to be on French territory had been authorised in some 500 cells, the prosecutor said. She said that the phones -- the size of a cigarette lighter -- had been resold by a French supplier called Oportik whose website has now been blocked by the authorities after its domain name was seized. The prosecutor emphasised it was against the law to give any kind of mobile phone to a detainee. The devices are marketed as being undetectable by security at the entrances to jails. "Investigations have established that some of these phones have been used to commit drug trafficking offences, fraud, damage to businesses by fire and attempted murder from inside prisons," said Beccuau. France's right-leaning government has been under pressure to restore security in prisons after convicted drug trafficker Mohamed Amra, known as "The Fly", escaped detention in May last year. The tightly coordinated breakout left two prison officers dead. Amra was finally arrested in Romania after evading arrest for nine months and extradited to France. Last month, a series of coordinated attacks affected French prisons. Cars were torched, there was automatic gunfire and mysterious inscriptions were left behind. Prosecutors blamed the attacks on drug traffickers.
