A series of coordinated attacks on French prisons including arson and automatic gunfire has raised concerns of retaliation against the government’s intensified crackdown on drug trafficking, officials said on Tuesday.
Vehicles were set ablaze outside multiple prison facilities, while one prison was struck with automatic weapon fire, according to justice ministry sources. The attacks occurred overnight Monday into Tuesday and appear to be linked to the government’s newly ramped-up anti-drug strategy.
“All signs point to these being coordinated actions, likely connected to the government’s anti-narcotics campaign,” a source close to the investigation told AFP. In recent months, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau have pledged to step up efforts to dismantle criminal drug networks.
“The Republic is face to face with drug trafficking,” Darmanin said in a statement on social media platform X. “We are taking measures that will seriously disrupt these networks,” he added, promising a “firm and courageous” response.
The FO Justice prison workers’ union described the attacks as severe. “Vehicles were torched, prison gates were set on fire, and even came under gunfire,” the union reported.
In one of the most serious incidents, three vehicles—including two belonging to prison staff—were burned in the parking lot of Villepinte prison, just north of Paris. Police discovered a fuel canister at the scene, and surveillance footage captured two individuals setting the cars on fire.
Similar attacks were reported outside three additional prisons—one near Paris and two in southern France. In Toulon, 15 bullet holes were found on the prison’s front gate, apparently fired from a “Kalashnikov-type” assault rifle, according to FO Justice.
Meanwhile, in Aix-en-Provence, two vehicles were set ablaze, and the entrance to the ERIS (Regional Response and Security Teams) prison unit was damaged.
The violence followed earlier incidents overnight Sunday to Monday, when fires were reported in the parking lots of a prison and a prison staff training center near Paris.
“These criminal acts are a direct attack on our institutions, the Republic, and the personnel who serve it daily,” FO Justice said in a statement, urging a strong and unequivocal government response.
Wilfried Fonck, national secretary of the Ufap-Unsa Justice union, also raised concerns about staffing shortages. “We don’t have the manpower to secure prison perimeters 24/7,” he told newsmen.
Authorities have also discovered anarchist slogans at some of the scenes, prompting police to keep all investigative avenues open as they search for the perpetrators.
