France to build high-security prison in French Guiana for drug lords and terrorists

The French government has announced plans to construct a high-security prison deep in the jungles of French Guiana, its overseas territory in South America.

The prison will house some of France’s most dangerous criminals — a move that has drawn sharp criticism from local officials.

A fortress in the forest

Set to open by 2028 in the remote border town of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, the €420 million ($450 million) facility will accommodate 500 inmates, with a specialised high-security wing for 60 individuals — 45 convicted of major drug offences and 15 for terrorism. According to Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, the goal is to sever all contact between these individuals and their criminal networks.

“I have decided to establish France’s third high-security prison in Guiana,” Darmanin said in an interview with JDD weekly. “Sixty places, an extremely strict prison regime and one goal — to remove the most dangerous profiles involved in drug trafficking.”

‘Hitting crime at every level’

The project comes amid a surge in violence within French prisons and increasing concern over drug-related crime. “My strategy is simple — hit organised crime at all levels,” Darmanin said during a visit to the territory. “Here in Guiana, at the start of the drug trafficking route. In mainland France, by neutralising the network leaders. And all the way to consumers.”

A return to a dark legacy

The location evokes painful historical memories. In the 19th century, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni served as a hub for deporting convicts to Devil’s Island, France’s infamous penal colony. The island once held wrongly accused officer Alfred Dreyfus and was immortalised in Henri Charriere’s memoir Papillon.

Today, the proposed prison revives old ghosts in a territory already grappling with France’s highest homicide rate — 20.6 per 100,000 people in 2023.