An inmate who calls the police to denounce his hitman’s “poor work” is the surreal scene that occurred on October 4 when a VTC driver was shot dead in cold blood by a 14-year-old boy. . This Friday, October 18, two deputies from Bouches-du-Rhône presented themselves at the Luynes remand center to take stock of the situation and understand why and how phones and drugs normally prohibited arrive in prison.
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Force the doors of the penitentiary at any time and without warning, a privilege reserved for deputies and senators asserted this Friday, October 18 by Marie-Arlette Carlotti and Guy Bénaroche, senators from Bouches-du-Rhône visiting Luynes prison , near Aix-en-Provence in Bouches-du-Rhône. Nearly 2,000 prisoners are serving sentences in this establishment, the second largest in France in terms of number of prisoners. The Ministry of Justice, Didier Migaud had requested an inspection of this penitentiary center after the death of a minor aged 15 and a 36-year-old VTC driver in Marseille against a backdrop of violence linked to a prison inmate claiming to be from the DZ Mafia gang.
Marie-Arlette Carlotti and Guy Bénaroche, senators from Bouches-du-Rhône, are part of the commission of inquiry into the impact of drug trafficking in France. They did not choose this penitentiary center by chance. A few weeks ago, an inmate linked to drug trafficking allegedly ordered an assassination by telephone from his cell in the solitary confinement unit and called the police to denounce the hitman he had recruited to carry out his orders. However, wave jammers are installed nearby. But their effectiveness is limited, the senator will experience it. Phone in hand, near the jammer, no communication possible, a few meters further, the connection is made, the ringtone rings. Guy Bénnaroche, EELV senator, is convinced of this, “if we want to reduce the number of narchomicides and the people who undergo these contracts, we must stop this porosity between the people who are in prisons and those who are outside.
On October 2, a 15-year-old teenager from Marseille was “stabbed with 50 stab wounds” et “burned alive”, while he was carrying out a contract for which an inmate from Luynes had recruited him via social networks. Two days later, a 36-year-old man was the collateral victim of a war between gangs, shot in the head by a 14-year-old hitman, recruited by the same inmate to avenge the death of the young man. 15 years old.
It is difficult to make prisons completely airtight. In Luynes, as everywhere, goods are introduced during visiting rooms, by projections from outside or even by drones. The day before our visit, the seizures of the last 18 months were destroyed: 48 kg of narcotics and half a ton of electronic equipment that was ever more sophisticated and ever easier to conceal. As evidenced by this very small cell phone.
“It’s a phone discovered on a detainee following a search, following suspicion, and it was found in the prisoner’s underwear,” explains Marie Arlette Carlotti who wonders “how many are seized per day, or regularly in French prisons”.
Here in Luynes, around thirty cell phones are confiscated every month. The director of the penitentiary center confirms to us that she has requested additional resources from the State to move towards a total disruption of the prison, but recognizes that the technology seems to exceed the means implemented.
In this report from an Italian channel, filmed a few days ago, the journalist calls an inmate who answers from his cell. The interview takes place normally without a jammer.
“I have decided to carry out an inspection entrusted to the General Inspectorate of Justice concerning the operation of this penitentiary center,” had indicatedKeeper of the Seals Didier Migaudquestioned precisely by Senator Marie-Arlette Carlotti during the question session with the government.
“It is obvious that the continuation of criminal activities since detention is not admissible”added Didier Migaud, assuring that he wanted to continue the fight against traffic “illicit objects in prison”.
“We are used to publicity effects”,reacted Jessy Zagari, “It is worrying that the minister is surprised”such factss,believes the delegate of FO Pénitentiaire, who specifies that the inmate in question was in an isolation unit, while the union has been denouncing for years “the trivialization of cell phone discovery.” “The supervisors of Aix-Luynes feel discouraged, he adds, the local management no longer even seems to pursue disciplinary action against the detainees” in possession of telephones. The union has been alerting the “security gaps” and requests the installation in the isolation unit of baggage
The minister also indicated his intention to “to return soon”n the Marseille city, a visit that he will make jointly with the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau. He further assured that the examination of the bill “aiming to get France out of the trap of drug trafficking”tabled in the Senate in July, was “only postponed”. “I hope, like you, that we can, before the end of the year, debate this proposal”,he assured, specifying that this time will allow him to“expertise” all measures provided for by the text.
Article written with Pierre Vaireaux.
