Latest news with #drugtraffickers
Arab News
3 days ago
- General
- Arab News
France's prison population reaches all-time high
PARIS: France's prison population hit a record high on May 1, with 83,681 inmates held in facilities that have a capacity of just 62,570, justice ministry data showed on the past year, France's prison population grew by 6,000 inmates, taking the occupancy rate to 133.7 record overcrowding has even seen 23 out of France's 186 detention facilities operating at more than twice their Minister Gerald Darmanin, who has called the overcrowding crisis 'unacceptable,' has suggested building new facilities to accommodate the growing prison hard-line minister announced in mid-May a plan to build a high-security prison in French Guiana — an overseas territory situated north of Brazil — for the most 'dangerous' criminals, including drug overcrowding is 'bad for absolutely everyone,' said Darmanin in late April, citing the 'appalling conditions' for prisoners and 'the insecurity and violence' faced by prison officers.A series of coordinated attacks on French prisons in April saw assailants torching cars, spraying the entrance of one prison with automatic gunfire, and leaving mysterious assaults embarrassed the right-leaning government, whose tough-talking ministers — Darmanin and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau — have vowed to step up the fight against in late April, lawmakers approved a major new bill to combat drug-related crime, with some of France's most dangerous drug traffickers facing detention in high-security prison units in the coming ranks among the worst countries in Europe for prison overcrowding, placing third behind Cyprus and Romania, according to a Council of Europe study published in June 2024.
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Kamloops RCMP identify victim 1 year after fatal motel shooting
The city of Kamloops, B.C., is seen in this file photo. (CTV News) Almost exactly a year after a fatal shooting at a motel on the Trans Canada Highway in Kamloops, RCMP are sharing the victim's identity in hopes of generating more leads in their investigation. Keenan James Robertson was the man killed at a motel in the 2500 block of the highway's eastbound lanes, Kamloops RCMP said in a statement Friday. 'As the Kamloops RCMP Serious Crime Unit work persistently on this file, they are hopeful that by sharing the name of the victim they will be able to further the investigation,' said Cpl. Dana Napier, in the release. Police were called to the site of the shooting shortly after midnight on May 31, 2024, and found Robertson deceased in one of the motel's rooms. There are two motels on the specified block: the Trans Canada Motel and a Super 8. At the time, police said they believed the shooting was 'not random.' It was the fifth targeted shooting of the month of May 2024 in Kamloops, though it was the first one to turn fatal. The other four were attributed to a gang conflict between local drug traffickers, but police said at the time that it was 'too early to speculate on a motive' for Robertson's killing. Anyone with information on Robertson's death is asked to call Kamloops RCMP at 250-828-3000 and cite file number 2024-16432.
Washington Post
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
France's plan to build a maximum security prison wing in French Guiana angers local officials
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — France plans to build a maximum-security prison wing for drug traffickers and Islamic militants near a former penal colony in French Guiana , sparking an outcry among residents and local officials. The wing would form part of a $450 million prison announced in 2017 that is expected to be completed by 2028 and hold 500 inmates. The prison would be built in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, a town bordering Suriname that once received prisoners shipped by Napoleon III in the 1800s, some of whom were sent to the notorious Devil's Island off the coast of French Guiana.
Telegraph
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
France to build jungle prison to hold drug kingpins
France is to build a high-security prison in the South American jungle for its most 'dangerous' criminals, including drug kingpins. Gerald Darmanin, the country's hardline justice minister, said the facility will open in 2028 in Saint-Laurent du Maroni in French Guiana, a n overseas territory situated north of Brazil. 'I have decided to establish France's third high-security prison in Guiana,' Mr Darmanin told the Journal du Dimanche. 'Sixty places, an extremely strict prison regime and one goal – to remove the most dangerous profiles involved in drug trafficking,' he said during a trip to Guiana. 'My strategy is simple – hit organised crime at all levels – here in Guiana, at the start of the drug trafficking route and in mainland France, by neutralising the network leaders, and all the way to consumers. 'This prison will be a safeguard in the war against narco-trafficking,' he added. Crucially, the prison's location 'will serve to permanently isolate the heads of drug trafficking networks' since 'they will no longer be able to contact their criminal networks'. Justice ministry officials also said that 15 places at the prison would be reserved for convicted Islamist radicals. Saint-Laurent du Maroni is a strategic hub for so-called drug mules, mainly from Brazil, who attempt to board flights to Paris carrying cocaine originating in neighbouring Suriname. Mr Darmanin had already said in January he wanted to isolate 'the 100 biggest drug traffickers' in a dedicated facility designed to stop them from pursuing their illegal business from their prison cells. Guiana is the most crime-ridden French department relative to the size of its population, with a record 20.6 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, nearly 14 times the national average. Saint-Laurent was the location of France's notorious Transportation Camp – a brutal penal colony that operated from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. The structure remains largely intact.
CTV News
15-05-2025
- CTV News
B.C. anti-gang unit appeals for help locating alleged drug traffickers
Photos provided by B.C.'s anti-gang unit show two alleged drug traffickers. Police are appealing for information about the pair's whereabouts.
