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NBC News
16-04-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
French prisons targeted in drug-related ‘terrorist attack,' minister says
France's justice minister said Tuesday that gun and arson attacks on at least six prisons around the country were acts of terrorism directed at security officials charged with guarding some of the nation's most hardened crime kingpins. Visiting Toulon prison in southern France, whose entrance was shot at with an AK-47 automatic rifle, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said he could not be sure if the attacks were linked to government efforts to clamp down on France's fast-growing drug trade. But he said authorities were making life much harder for imprisoned gangsters, and the government would not shy away from tackling drug crime, which has boosted support for the far right. 'The Republic will not back down,' he told reporters. 'These are extremely serious crimes ... an attack on the public prison service, that is, a terrorist attack.' Years of record South American cocaine imports to Europe have transformed local drug markets, sparking a wave of violence. Despite record cocaine seizures in France, gangs are reaping windfalls as they expand from traditional power bases in cities such as Marseille into smaller towns unused to drug violence. Darmanin, who plans to create new high-security prisons to crack down on gangsters who run their empires from behind bars, said at least six prisons had been targeted. Prison officers' union UFAP said vehicles were set on fire outside jails in Villepinte, Nanterre, Aix-Luynes, and Valence. In Nancy, a prison officer was threatened at home, while in Marseille, there was an attempted arson attack. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) said it had taken charge of the probe into the attacks, which also targeted the National School of Prison Administration. The PNAT said officers from France's domestic intelligence agency DGSI would assist in the investigation. 'The nature of these facts, the targets chosen and the concerted character of an action committed on multiple points on the territory, as well as the objective to seriously disturb public order with intimidation ... leads, at this stage, the national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office to take charge to ensure, in this unprecedented context, national coordination of the probes involved,' PNAT said in a statement. PNAT said its investigation may involve charges, including attempted murder with a terrorist outfit committed against a person in a position of public authority. Darmanin said it was unusual for PNAT, rather than specialized organized crime prosecutors, to take charge of the investigation, but it was justified due to the national scale of attacks against symbols of the state. The letters 'DDPF' — apparently an acronym for 'French prisoners' rights' — were tagged on many of the attack sites, and police sources suggested it could be the work of a far-left militant group. Darmanin said there had been DDPF groups on Telegram and Signal that had encouraged attacks against prisons, but 'there hasn't been any claim of responsibility.' 'I don't know who's behind this slogan, and I don't care because what I remember is not that a prison door was tagged, but that it was shot at by a Kalashnikov,' he said. Darmanin said the prison attacks reminded him of contracts given to gangsters to threaten, assault or kill rivals. 'We generally see such things between thugs; we rarely see it against the forces of the Republic,' he said. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he had instructed law enforcement to step up protection of staff and prisons. The rise in gang crime has increased support for the far-right National Rally party and helped drag French politics rightward. Darmanin has proposed measures to tighten prison security, including building high-security jails to isolate the country's top 100 kingpins. Lawmakers are also close to approving a sweeping new anti-drug trafficking law that would create a new national organized crime prosecutors' office and give greater investigative powers to police probing drug gangs. Authorities scored a win in February, when they recaptured Mohamed Amra, a French fugitive known as 'The Fly." His high-profile escape as he was being transported from prison to court resulted in the deaths of two prison guards.
Arab News
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
French prisons attacked in response to government's narco crackdown, minister says
Military-grade weapons were fired at entrance to Toulon prison, in southern France, the prison officials' union UFAP said'Attempts have been made to intimidate staff in several prisons, ranging from burning vehicles to firing automatic weapons,' Darmanin wrote on XPARIS: Multiple French prisons have been attacked in recent nights, including with automatic weapons, in what the justice minister said on Tuesday was a response to a government clamp-down on a drug trade turbocharged by a surge in cocaine weapons were fired at entrance to Toulon prison, in southern France, the prison officials' union UFAP were also set on fire outside the jails in Villepinte, Nanterre, Aix-Luynes, and Valence, UFAP said. In Nancy, a prison officer was threatened at their home, while in Marseille there was an attempted arson of record South American cocaine imports to Europe have metastasised local drug markets, sparking a wave of drug violence across the has not been spared, with record cocaine seizures, and gangs reaping windfalls from the white powder as they expand from traditional power bases in cities such as Marseille into smaller regional towns unaccustomed to drug Minister Gerald Darmanin, who plans to build new high-security prisons to crack down on gangsters who run their empires from behind bars, said he would travel to Toulon.'Attempts have been made to intimidate staff in several prisons, ranging from burning vehicles to firing automatic weapons,' Darmanin wrote on X. 'The French Republic is facing up to the problem of drug trafficking and is taking measures that will massively disrupt the criminal networks.'The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) said it had taken charge of the probe into the attacks, which also targeted the National School of Prison Administration. The PNAT said officers from France's domestic intelligence agency DGSI would assist in the was not immediately clear why the PNAT, rather than organized crime prosecutors, was in charge. The letters 'DDPF' — apparently an acronym for 'French prisoners' rights' — were tagged on many of the sites that were attacked, leading to some media speculation it could be the work of a militant Fonck, national secretary of the UFAP, told Reuters he was unaware of any such movement operating in French jails, but said that was almost certainly why PNAT had taken charge of the COCAINE SEIZURESInterior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he had instructed local prefects, alongside the police and gendarmerie, to immediately step up the protection of staff and prisons.'These targeted, cowardly, and heinous attacks aim to terrorize those who embody the authority of the State and ensure the safety of all on a daily basis, even at the cost of their own peace of mind,' UFAP said. 'Prison staff are not cannon fodder.'The rise in gang crime has lifted support for the far-right National Rally party, and helped drag French politics a former interior minister, and Retailleau have prioritized tackling drug February — as he announced record cocaine seizures of 47 tons in the first 11 months of 2024, versus 23 tons in all of 2023 — Retailleau said France had been hit by a 'white tsunami' that had rewritten the rules of the criminal has proposed a series of measures to tighten prison security, including building high-security jails to isolate the country's top 100 are also close to approving a sweeping new anti-drug trafficking law that would create a new national organized crime prosecutors' office and give greater investigative powers to police probing authorities scored a win against drug crime in February, when they recaptured Mohamed Amra, a French fugitive known as 'The Fly.' His escape as he was being transported from prison to a court hearing resulted in the deaths of two prison guards and was seized upon by right-wing politicians as evidence that France had lost its grip on drug crime. Multiple French prisons have been attacked in recent nights, including with automatic weapons, in what the justice minister said on Tuesday was a response to a government clamp-down on a drug trade turbocharged by a surge in cocaine trafficking. (AFP/File)
