PARIS (Reuters) – Drug-traffickers were most likely behind an unprecedented wave of attacks against French prisons though foreign influence and the far-left remain possible instigators, French interior minister Bruno Retailleau said on Thursday.
“It’s most likely drug-dealing scum. It is one of the most credible scenarios,” Retailleau told RTL radio.
At least nine prison facilities and affiliated institutions have been targeted with nightly arson and other attacks this week and a car was set alight at the home of a prison guard. There was no sign of further violence overnight into Thursday.
Retailleau confirmed an arrest, but said it was too early to tell if it was linked to the attacks, which the government has said appear to be a response to its efforts to clamp down a record-breaking surge of South American cocaine flooding Europe.
Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin plans to open high-security prisons to house France’s top 100 drug kingpins and limit inmates’ family contact.
A Telegram group called French Prisoner Rights (DDPF), created the day before the attacks began and arguing that prisoner rights are under threat, is under investigation.
The influx of South American cocaine has 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.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Makini Brice and Philippa Fletcher)
