Overview

• Since July 22, the justice ministry has transferred 79 of the country’s 100 most dangerous drug traffickers to Vendin-le-Vieil in heavily guarded convoys.
• The QLCO unit enforces 22-hour isolation in concrete-lined cells with reinforced surveillance and filtered communications.
• Tribunals in Melun and Paris have dismissed several inmates’ legal bids to annul their placement under the QLCO regime.
• The Association des avocats pénalistes has appealed to the Council of State, alleging a lack of transparency in selecting detainees for transfer.
• Officials plan to complete the final 21 relocations under the same high-security protocols in the coming days.