French Guiana. France will build a prison in the Amazon jungle

France will build a prison with a tightened rigor in the middle of the jungle in French Guyana – said Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin. The facility can be ready in three years and is to accommodate a maximum of 500 prisoners.

Minister of Justice France Gérald Darmanin stayed on the weekend with a visit to the French dependent territory, French Guyanie. On Sunday, he announced that Paris is planning to build a prison with a high rigor in the Saint-Laurent-Du-Maroni region, at the border with Surinam. As BBC notes, the building is to be built in an isolated place, deep in the jungle, in the rainforest of the Amazon.

The jungle prison will accommodate 500 prisoners

Minister Darganin said that drug criminals and radical Islamists will be sent to the facility. The prison is to ultimately accommodate a maximum of 500 prisoners, it will also include a separate space for the most dangerous criminals. Its construction will cost EUR 400 million and can be opened as early as 2028.

The prison is to help relieve the overpopulation of other prisons in French Guyan. The minister noted that now some “extremely dangerous” prisoners are not detained in enough safe conditions, both in Guyana and some other French dependent territories. It is also to be a response to the growing threat of drug trafficking in this territory.

Darmanin pointed out that Guyana is an important point on the trash trail of cocaine to Europe. – Citizens in dependent territories must receive the same level of security as those in continental France – he emphasized. The French BFMTV station notes that gang wars have led to the fact that the murder rate in French Guyana is 18.4 per 100,000. residents, while in continental France 1.2.

In an interview with the French newspaper “Le Journal du Dimanche”, the minister clarified that the new prison would be subject to “an extremely severe criminal regime” in order to isolate the most dangerous drug dealers from society. It will be used to stop people “at the beginning of the drug trail”.