France has unveiled plans to construct a new high-security prison within its overseas territory of French Guiana, specifically designed to incarcerate dangerous drug traffickers and radical Islamists. The announcement was made by the country’s Justice Minister, Gérald Darmanin, during a recent visit to the South American territory.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin informed Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD) newspaper that the primary objective of this new prison is to aggressively target organized crime “at all levels” of the drug supply chain.
The significant €400 million (£337 million) facility is projected to open as early as 2028 and will be strategically located in a highly isolated region deep within the Amazon jungle, in the northwestern area of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, French Guiana.
High-Security Prison Plan Comes After Violent Incidents Targeting French Jails
The decision to build this remote high-security prison comes in the wake of a series of violent incidents linked to criminal gangs that have targeted prisons and prison staff across mainland France in recent months.
The planned Amazon jungle prison in French Guiana will have the capacity to hold up to 500 inmates, including a dedicated and separate wing specifically designed to house the most dangerous criminals, including high-level drug traffickers and radical Islamists.
In his interview with JDD, Minister Darmanin emphasized that the new high-security prison will operate under an “extremely strict carceral regime.” The core aim of this stringent system is to “incapacitate the most dangerous drug traffickers” and prevent them from continuing their criminal activities from behind bars.
Darmanin further explained that the facility will serve to detain individuals “at the beginning of the drug trail,” referring to French Guiana’s strategic location as a transit point for drug mules.
Furthermore, it will act as a “lasting means of removing the heads of the drug trafficking networks” operating within mainland France, effectively isolating them from their criminal enterprises due to the significant distance from the French mainland.
French Guiana, an overseas region of France situated on the northeast coast of South America, offers a unique geographical advantage for this type of high-security prison. Its considerable distance from mainland France will ensure that incarcerated drug lords “will no longer be able to have any contact with their criminal networks,” according to Minister Darmanin.
French authorities have long struggled with the issue of mobile phones being smuggled into the prison system, with tens of thousands known to be circulating within French jails. This new high-security prison in the Amazon jungle is expected to implement stricter measures to prevent such infiltration and enhance overall security.
Attacks on French Prisons Linked to New Anti-Organized Crime Laws
France has experienced a series of attacks on prisons in recent months, which Minister Darmanin has characterized as “terrorist” incidents carried out in response to the government’s new and stricter legislation targeting organized crime.
These attacks have included setting vehicles on fire outside prison facilities, and one instance involved gunfire directed at Toulon’s La Farlede prison. Some perpetrators of these attacks have reportedly styled themselves as defenders of prisoners’ rights.
The proposed new high-security prison in French Guiana is slated to be built at a “strategic crossroads” for drug mules, particularly those originating from Brazil and Suriname, according to AFP news agency.
Interestingly, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, the chosen location, was historically the port of entry to the infamous Devil’s Island penal colony. This penal colony, where approximately 70,000 convicts from mainland France were incarcerated between 1852 and 1954, gained notoriety as the setting for French writer Henri Charrière’s acclaimed book “Papillon,” which was later adapted into a successful Hollywood film starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.
