The transfer of the first inmates to the high-security prison in Condé-sur-Sarthe (Orne), the second after the Vendin-le-Vieil (Pas-de-Calais) prison, will begin “in the coming hours”, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on Tuesday evening.
The Minister of Justice specified in TF 1 that “around forty” detainees will be transferred to the anti-organized crime unit (QLCO) by the end of this month, which will house a total of “around one hundred” detainees. “Five million euros” were invested there, he said.
The aim of this ultra-secure structure is to place prisoners in total isolation who authorities say come from the high end of the organized crime spectrum, according to an extremely strict detention regime inspired by the war against the mafia in Italy.
500 prisoners are considered dangerous
The Justice Ministry estimates at around 500 the number of prisoners considered extremely dangerous among the 86,000 people currently held in France. This QLCO is supposed to prevent them from communicating with the outside world, specifically to continuously regulate their traffic.
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The first district opened this summer in Vendin-le-Vieil (Pas-de-Calais), where the November 13 jihadist Salah Abdeslam and drug trafficker Mohamed Amra were jailed. It will cost “four million euros”, according to the minister.
The minister also spoke about Salah Abdeslam, who has a computer in prison, a device containing propaganda content from terrorist organizations. Gérald Darmanin said he was “shocked” to learn that jihadists had access to computers. “Permission from the prison. I’m ending it. The computer is not connected to the outside world,” he assured TF 1.
Security is “total” in Vendin-le-Vieil, according to the minister
In the high-security district of “Vendin-le-Vieil there are no drones, no mobile phones, no USB keys and total security in this place,” stressed the minister.
Another QLCO will open in Réau, in Seine-et-Marne, “in June 2026”, said Gérald Darmanin. Valence, Aix-en-Provence, then Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, in Guyana, will follow “at the end of 2028”.
