French prisons were attacked overnight amid a government crackdown on drug trafficking, with arson and gunfire reported. Authorities and unions call for stronger security and state response.

Several prisons across France were attacked overnight, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed on Tuesday. He indicated that the incidents appeared to be connected to the government’s ongoing crackdown on drug trafficking.

Darmanin described the attacks as attempts at intimidation. Reports included vehicles being set on fire and at least one facility coming under automatic gunfire. Multiple correctional facilities were targeted during the night leading into Tuesday, with Toulon-La Farlède prison being one of the hardest hit, reportedly subjected to heavy gunfire.

“I am traveling to Toulon to support the officers involved,” Darmanin said. “The Republic is facing drug trafficking and is taking measures that will profoundly disrupt criminal networks. It is being challenged but will stand firm and act with courage.”

A statement from the FO Justice prison union described the incidents in more detail, stating that vehicles were burned, entrance doors set on fire, and that some sites were attacked with heavy weapons. At the Villepinte remand center, located in the Paris region, security footage reportedly showed two individuals entering the facility via an earth mound and setting fire to a vehicle, with a third vehicle sustaining damage from the flames.

Police sources said additional vehicles were set ablaze at facilities in Nanterre, near Paris, as well as at Aix-Luynes and Valence in the southeast. At Toulon-La Farlède, officials recorded 15 bullet impacts on the door of the facility, attributed to what was described as a “Kalashnikov-style” attack.

Between Sunday night and Monday, fires were also reported in the parking lots of the National School of Penitentiary Administration (ENAP) and Raau prison, both located in the Paris region.

The FO Justice union condemned the attacks, calling them “a frontal assault on our institution, on the Republic, and on the officers who serve it every day.” The union urged the state to deliver a “strong, immediate, and unambiguous response.”

Another union, UFAP Unsa Justice, told the AFP news agency that prison administrators lacked the personnel needed to provide 24-hour security at the facilities.

Since taking office, Darmanin has voiced a commitment to isolating the country’s 100 most notorious drug traffickers in a high-security prison. In addition, the French parliament is currently reviewing legislation designed to “free France from the trap of drug trafficking.” The proposed law includes the establishment of a National Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (PNACO).