France allows drug-trafficker and previous escapee day release from supermax prison

The French high-security prisoner was expected to travel by train – unescorted - on his day outing.

A prisoner convicted of drug-trafficking and held in a French high-security jail was granted a day release to meet a potential employer, sparking controversy.

Several vehicles departed from a supermax facility in the northern town of Vendin-le-Vieil, according to an AFP journalist on the scene.

The prisoner was expected to travel by train – unescorted – to the eastern city of Lyon for a meeting with a prospective employer, David Lacroix, who represents the FO Justice union, told AFP.

Identified as Ouaihid Ben Faiza by a union source speaking on condition of anonymity, the inmate is considered a key figure in a major drug-trafficking network in Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris.

The 52-year-old held in the organised crime wing of the prison has until 9pm local time to return to the jail. He’s due for release in 2029.

“He is not being monitored; he is not being escorted. Someone from his entourage came to pick him up,” Ben Faiza’s lawyer, Marie Violleau, told broadcaster BFMTV.

“He is going from point A to point B to prepare, strengthen and reinforce his reintegration,” she added.

Ben Faiza already escaped custody during a hospital visit in 2014, remaining at large for two weeks after fleeing with the help of an armed commando.

The decision to grant the prisoner leave - against the public prosecutor’s advice - has fuelled outrage.

The move came days after the killing of an anti-drug activist’s brother in the southern city of Marseille reignited calls to tackle drug crime in France.

Such a release is “incompatible with the conditions of isolation”, said Thomas Vaugrand, a representative of Ufap Unsa Justice union.

“We said we had to cut them off from the world,” he added. “And now we’re letting them out into the wild, all alone.”

In July, France began moving some of its most notorious drug traffickers to the Vendin-le-Vieil prison, as part of the country’s fight against the narcotics trade.

One of France’s two most secure prisons has been renovated to further boost security, including the paving in concrete of the exercise yard to prevent objects from being hidden and the installation of an airport-style body scanner.

Notorious French drug baron Mohamed Amra entered the prison in July after his escape in May 2024, when his accomplices ambushed a prison van at a motorway toll, killing two guards.

-Agence France-Presse