This was an operation on a rarely seen scale that took place on Tuesday 25 November at the Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) pre-trial detention center. Last night, nearly 200 specially mobilized agents carried out a large-scale search of the penitentiary, which enabled the seizure of 70 mobile phones and narcotics, the weighing of which is still in progress. The first of its kind in fifteen years.
This operation marks the start of a major plan to combat illegal objects in custody, announced this Wednesday morning on RTL, by the Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin. In a circular addressed to all directors of interregional prison services, the Minister of Justice ordered the organization of “sectoral searches” in all pre-prison detention centers in France by December 31, 2025.
New technological means
In Nanterre, authorities have mobilized extraordinary resources. In addition to the approximately 200 agents mobilized, dogs specially trained in drug detection and advanced technological devices were also used. This equipment makes it possible to detect mobile phones, even when turned off, as well as SIM cards hidden in the cells.
Each sectoral search should involve around 50 cells and 100 detainees, so that the maximum number of cells can be opened simultaneously, the ministerial circular said. The company leadership was invited to request the assistance of internal security forces, technical canine teams, customs agents, but also the presence of judicial police officers and representatives of the public prosecutor.
79,526 discoveries by 2024
This attack comes at a time when the prison administration is facing real bleeding. In 2024, there will be no less than 79,526 discoveries of cellphones and accessories (SIM cards, chargers, USB cables) in custody. These dizzying numbers show how bad correctional institutions are.
“The permeability of correctional institutions, including in safe areas such as isolation areas, has made it easier for criminals and criminals to continue their activities, even though they are in prison,” regretted Gérald Darmanin in his circular. The minister underlined that these weaknesses led to the creation of an environment for combating organized crime (QLCO), which was intended to isolate the most dangerous drug traffickers.
The first ultra-safe neighborhood was implemented in Vendin-le-Vieil, followed by a second neighborhood in Condé-sur-Sarthe. Four months after the inauguration of the first prison, the minister made a positive initial assessment of the prison structure which houses nearly 140 inmates out of more than 85,000 prisoners cared for by the prison administration.
These massive searches were part of a broader strategy announced on 21 November by Gérald Darmanin during a trip to Santé prison. The Minister of Justice launched a 29 million euro “phoneless” plan that aims to strengthen the waterproof layer at six pilot sites thanks to jammers, millimeter wave gantries and pedestrian courtyard coverage to prevent the projection of objects from outside.
Systematic criminal response
But ministers now intend to expand the fight to the entire prison system. All discoveries discovered during this search operation will be systematically reported to the competent public prosecutor’s office, “to enable prosecution to be initiated whenever elements constituting a violation are present”, the circular emphasized.
Six penal institutions are also the subject of a special plan to combat mobile phones, which combines active and passive devices: the pre-trial detention centers in Arras and Dijon, as well as the penitentiary centers in Paris-La Santé, Rennes-Vezin, Toulon-La Farlède and Toulouse-Seysses. In these six buildings alone, 545 cellphones will be confiscated in 2024.
The director of the interregional prison service must send a schedule of all these searches to the ministry by December 3.
