The notorious French drug baron Mohamed Amra (known as the “fly”) was transferred to the new Super Max Prison on Thursday, which was intended to stop narcotic criminals from trading from prison.
Amra escaped headlines in May 2024 after alleged accomplices attacked, two of whom were killed.
After a month of raid, he was arrested in Romania and extraditioned to France.
He was the first to bring convicted drug offenders to Vendin-le-Vieil in northern France as part of the government’s government campaign against the drug trade. This is one of two brand new high security prisons.
Attorney General Gerald Darmanin, who announced the transfer on X, said he wanted to lock in 200 of France’s largest drug traffickers in two top security prisons to combat networks operating from inside the prison.
In October, a high security prison wing will be opened in the northwest town of Conde-Sur-Sarthe.
As part of the new regime, cell phone signals will be plagued, and prisoners conduct mandatory searches after every contact with the outside world.
At Vendin-le-Vieil Prison, exercise fields have been combined to prevent objects from being hidden and an airport-style body scanner is installed.
The grating has been added to the rebars installed on the cells and hatches on all doors so that prisoners can be handcuffed before leaving the cell.
Glass screens now prevent physical contact between prisoners and tourists.
At the time of the deadly ambush, Amra has a long history of conviction for the violent crime he began when he was 15 years old.
Amra is suspected of ordering orders from prison, including in the months before the breakthrough.
MCA/JH/AH/JJ
