US EditionFrench Police Launch Prison Hunt for Chinese-Made Miniature Phones
- French authorities launched Operation Prison Break on Tuesday to find Chinese-made miniature phones used by inmates across 66 prisons.
- The operation responds to widespread smuggling of nearly 40,000 phones in 2024, which inmates used to continue serious crimes from inside cells.
- Phones made mostly of plastic evade metal detectors, cost about €20, and are nicknamed 'suppositories' for being easy to conceal in prisons.
- France's Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin announced plans to strengthen efforts against organized crime, highlighting that gang leaders continue their illegal activities even while imprisoned.
- France shared tracing methods with Eurojust to help other nations combat similar prison contraband problems and enhance coordinated enforcement.
19 Articles
19 Articles
French Police on Alert as Mini-Phones Are Smuggled Into Prison en Masse
French police have searched nearly five hundred cells in 66 prisons across the country. The target of the search: mini-phones. "They are as big as a lighter," the French justice department reports.
"Operation Prison Break": Raids Carried Out in More than 60 French Prisons Against the "Mini-Portables"
A police operation was launched on Tuesday, 20 May, targeting "nearly 500 cells" in prisons throughout the country, according to the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office.
Large Operation of Seizures of Portable Mini-Telephones in 66 Prisons
In total, "5000 telephones" are currently in circulation and are covered by this operation as part of an open investigation for the administration of a platform allowing illegal transactions and concealing objects arising from an infringement.
Operation Prison Break: Raids in 66 French Prisons to Seize Miniature Mobile Phones
On Tuesday, investigators are conducting a large-scale operation aimed at seizing some 5,000 telephones of a few centimetres made in China, virtually undetectable by prison security portals and marketed by a major French dealer.
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