iPhones, cannabis, SIM cards, … a major seizure in a penitentiary center, everything was hidden in boxes of grated cheese

La saisie a été effectuée dans les cartons de fromage râpé. Illustration Envato – Sebastian Radu

La saisie s’est déroulée au centre pénitentiaire de Fresnes ce jeudi 2 décembre. Une importante saisie qui révèle un trafic certain et inquiète les syndicats.

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An investigation has been opened after the discovery on Thursday, January 2, at the Fresnes penitentiary center in Val-de-Marne, of 45 iPhones and a kilo of cannabis resin hidden in boxes of grated cheese, intended for the inmates' canteen, the Créteil prosecutor's office said on Friday, January 3, when contacted by AFP. “The investigations have been entrusted to the SDPJ 94”, the department's judicial police service, the public prosecutor's office said.

A seizure that “demonstrates the extent of a certain traffic”

In addition to mobile phones and resin, chargers, SIM cards, headphones and electronic cigarettes were also found by two prison officers, according to the FO-Justice union in Fresnes, confirming information from a source close to the case.

The union “is concerned about this impressive seizure which shows and demonstrates security deficiencies and the extent of certain trafficking”. The The local FO office is therefore calling for the “strengthening of controls” and the “development of specific measures to block the use of telephones in detention”.

The delivery man had already left Fresnes prison, the second largest in France, at the time of the discovery, said the same source close to the case. “More than 40,000 mobile phones have been seized” in prison in France in 2024, announced Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin during from a trip to Marseille on Thursday.