Several inmates have gone on hunger strike in France's first special prison for particularly dangerous drug traffickers, according to the newspaper Le Figaro. 

According to the source, a few days after their cells were flooded, about 20 inmates in the first wing of the Vendres-les-Vieux prison (Pas-de-Calais department) refused food in protest against their transfer to the “super prison” and their conditions of detention. Among them is the head of the Marseille drug cartel, Mohamed Amra, known as “Mouha,” who was arrested in February in Romania after escaping from a French prison.

The first group of convicted drug traffickers was transferred to the special prison in July, and by the beginning of August, the facility was completely full: 88 people are serving their sentences there, according to French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin. 

Holding drug traffickers in such prisons poses serious organizational and social problems. For example, the leaders of large gangs often continue to run their criminal networks despite restrictive measures, using mobile phones and other means of communication. 

Earlier, one of the prisoners managed to escape from prison by hiding in a bag.