France to build $450M high-security jungle prison in South America
France has unveiled plans to construct a 400 million euro (USD 451 million) high-security prison deep in the Amazon jungle of French Guiana, aimed at cutting off dangerous criminals from their networks and cracking down on organized crime.
The announcement was made by French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin during a visit to the South American territory, where he emphasized the need for a tougher approach to drug trafficking and extremism.
The facility, expected to open by 2028, will be located in the remote northwestern commune of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni—once the grim entry point to France's notorious Devil's Island penal colony. It will house up to 500 inmates, including a specialized wing for the most high-risk individuals.
In an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD), Darmanin described the upcoming prison as part of a broader national strategy to dismantle organized criminal operations.
'We want to incapacitate the most dangerous drug traffickers,' he said, noting that the prison would enforce an 'extremely strict carceral regime.'
Crucially, the justice minister framed the facility as a tool to sever drug lords from their influence. 'Drug lords will no longer be able to have any contact with their criminal networks,' Darmanin told JDD, citing the prison's extreme isolation and security protocols.
French Guiana, a French overseas region bordering Brazil and Suriname, has long been a key transit point for narcotics smuggling routes into Europe. Officials hope the new prison—strategically located along these routes—will serve as a choke point for traffickers at the early stages of the supply chain.
The initiative follows a string of violent incidents across France in recent months, where prison staff and facilities have been targeted by armed attackers. In some cases, perpetrators set vehicles ablaze outside prisons or opened fire, claiming to act in defense of inmates' rights.
French authorities suspect these attacks are a backlash to sweeping reforms aimed at dismantling criminal networks. Earlier this year, the government introduced new legislation to give prosecutors and investigators greater powers, and to offer special protections for informants. The law also provides for the construction of multiple high-security prisons, including the one in French Guiana.
The new facility will address long-standing challenges such as the widespread use of smuggled mobile phones in French prisons—tens of thousands are believed to be in circulation—by enforcing stricter controls on inmate communications.
French Guiana's unique legal status as an overseas region means its residents are full French citizens with voting rights and access to France's social services. Yet its remote geography makes it an ideal site, officials say, for detaining individuals deemed too dangerous to remain on the mainland.
The jungle site also evokes echoes of history. Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni was the departure point for thousands of prisoners sent to the brutal penal colonies of the 19th and early 20th centuries, immortalized in Henri Charrière's memoir Papillon, later adapted into a film starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Roya News
7 hours ago
- Roya News
Macron warns against 'uncontrolled escalation' in Middle East
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday warned against an "uncontrolled escalation" in the Middle East after the United States joined 'Israel's' campaign against Tehran's atomic programme by bombing Iranian nuclear sites. "No strictly military response can produce the desired effects," Macron told a defence council meeting in Paris. "The resumption of diplomatic and technical discussions is the only way to achieve the goal we all seek, which is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons," he added. The French leader however did not directly condemn the unprecedented US intervention. After a scheduled visit to Norway on Monday, Macron is on Tuesday due to go to the Netherlands for a NATO summit which US President Donald Trump is also set to attend. In a joint statement with his German and British counterparts, Macron called on Iran "not to take any further action that could destabilise the region" in response to the strikes. Earlier the French leader had urged Tehran to de-escalate and "exercise the utmost restraint" after the strikes in a call with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian. He said he also told Iran to "renounce nuclear weapons", warning of "the risk of the worst for the entire region".
Roya News
a day ago
- Roya News
Iran threatens 'more devastating' response to 'Israeli' attacks
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian warned Saturday of a "more devastating" retaliation should 'Israel's' nine-day bombing campaign continue, saying the Islamic republic would not halt its nuclear programme "under any circumstances". 'Israel' said on Saturday it had killed three more Iranian commanders in its unprecedented offensive, while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed Tehran's alleged progress towards a nuclear weapon had been set back by two years. "We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat," Saar told the German newspaper Bild, asserting 'Israel' would keep up its onslaught. 'Israel' and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since 'Israel' launched its aerial campaign on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. On Saturday, 'Israel' said it had attacked Iran's Isfahan nuclear site for a second time, with the UN nuclear watchdog reporting that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop had been hit. Iran denies seeking an atomic bomb, and on Saturday Pezeshkian said its right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme "cannot be taken away... by threats or war". In a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Pezeshkian said Iran was "ready to discuss and cooperate to build confidence in the field of peaceful nuclear activities". "However, we do not agree to reduce nuclear activities to zero under any circumstances," he added, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency. Referring to the 'Israeli' attacks, he said: "Our response to the continued aggression of the Zionist regime will be more devastating." Iran's armed forces threatened to strike shipments of military aid to 'Israel' from any country. 'Israel's' main arms supplier is the United States, whose President Donald Trump warned on Friday that Tehran had a "maximum" of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes as Washington weighed whether to join Israel's campaign. 'Not prepared to negotiate' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Istanbul on Saturday for a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the conflict. Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met Araghchi in Geneva on Friday and urged him to resume nuclear talks with the United States that had been derailed by the war. But Araghchi told NBC News that "we're not prepared to negotiate with them (the Americans) anymore, as long as the aggression continues". Trump, dismissive of European diplomatic efforts, said he was unlikely to ask 'Israel' to stop its attacks to get Iran back to the table. "If somebody's winning, it's a little bit harder to do," he said of Israel's campaign. Any US involvement would likely feature powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses to destroy an underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordo. US B-2 stealth bombers capable of carrying bunker busters were flying across the Pacific Ocean, according to tracking data and media reports, fuelling speculation over their intended mission.
Roya News
2 days ago
- Roya News
European powers urge Iran to pursue diplomacy amid 'Israeli' bombardment
European powers on Friday urged Iran to continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff over its nuclear programme, as 'Israel' maintains its military strikes on the Islamic Republic. 'The good result today is that we leave the room with the impression that Iran is ready to discuss these questions further,' said German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, speaking alongside his British, French, and EU counterparts after talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy emphasized the importance of continued dialogue: 'We are keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran, and we urge Iran to continue their talks with the United States.' French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot added, 'There can be no definitive solution through military means to the Iran nuclear problem.' For his part, Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi expressed readiness to support the 'continuation' of nuclear talks with European nations, but signaled that diplomatic progress would depend on a halt in aggression, saying Iran is prepared to "consider" diplomacy 'once the aggression is stopped.'
