Building a high-security prison in the Amazon jungle for radical Islamists
France has announced plans to build a high-security prison in the Amazon rainforest for Islamist extremists and drug traffickers.
The French government has announced plans to build a maximum-security prison in the French overseas territory of Guiana to house Islamist extremists and drug traffickers. The prison is to be built deep in the Amazon rainforest in the Saint-Laurent-de-Beau region.
The French government has been under intense public pressure in recent months to come up with solutions to increase security and combat organized crime networks.
The special prison is designed to target all levels of the drug supply chain and hold radical Islamists, according to French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. The prison will be a separate section for the most dangerous criminals, and the decision to build it follows a wave of violence and coordinated attacks by Islamists on other prisoners and prison staff, as well as drug traffickers.
The prison is to be built with a budget of 400 million euros, which can accommodate a maximum of 500 prisoners, and is expected to be operational by 2028. The prison facilities will benefit from modern security technologies, advanced surveillance systems, and isolated structures to minimize the possibility of escape or communication with external networks.
The Interior Minister emphasized that one of the goals of building this prison is to eliminate the leaders of drug trafficking networks on French soil, saying: "The geographical distance means that they will no longer be able to communicate with their networks."
