French anti-terror prosecutors have handed over the investigation into a spate of violent attacks on prisons, saying that the violence is linked to drug gangs rather than terrorism.
At least 10 prisons were targeted over five nights in April. Cars were torched in prison car parks, mortars were fired at detention centres and prison staff were threatened at their homes. In one incident, automatic gunfire hit a housing estate where prison guards live.
On Friday, the national anti-terror prosecutor’s office (PNAT) said it no longer believed the attacks were part of a terrorist plot.
“It does not appear that these coordinated actions stem from a terrorist enterprise,” said PNAT. “No radical violent ideology, no foreign interference – both leads that were deeply investigated – could be found.”
The case has now been transferred to JUNALCO, the French office that handles major organised crime investigations.
Anti-terror probe launched after wave of attacks on French prisons
Suspects linked to Marseille gang
Thirty people have been arrested so far. Of those, 21 were presented to judges in Paris on Friday with a view to being charged.
Seven are already serving prison sentences and two are minors. Prosecutors have requested pre-trial detention for all 21. Seven others arrested earlier this week have been released without charge.
Investigators say the attacks were organised through a Telegram group called DDPF – short for Defence of French Prisoners' Rights – which spread messages in support of inmates and against prison staff.
The group’s alleged creator is a prisoner awaiting trial in a Marseille drug case. Prosecutors say he has ties to the DZ Mafia, a powerful gang based in the north of the Mediterranean city.
Messages shared on the DDPF Telegram channel reportedly offered payment in exchange for attacks. Tags with the initials DDPF were found at several of the scenes.
“This method of operation corresponds to the one now commonly used by criminal organisations to carry out missions on their behalf,” said PNAT and JUNALCO in a joint statement.
One of the most serious incidents involved automatic gunfire and Molotov cocktails thrown at a housing estate in Villefontaine, a town in southeastern France, that is home to staff from the nearby Saint-Quentin-Fallavier prison.
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Tougher laws
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin told France Inter radio the attacks were “clearly linked to drug trafficking”. He said the goal was to pressure prison officers into opposing a new anti-drug law.
“Their authors tried to intimidate prison guards so they would ask the government not to adopt the law,” said Darmanin.
The law was passed this week. It will create a national prosecutor’s office for organised crime and allow dangerous inmates to be held in stricter isolation.
The government says the measures respond to a sharp rise in drug-related violence and a surge in cocaine entering Europe from South America.
The investigation now covers at least 15 attacks carried out on prisons and prison staff since mid-April.
