The Algerian Executive has given the green light to the launch of a "high-security prison intended for drug traffickers and drug lords" in an old military barracks located in Tanesruft, in the southernmost part of the country. This region, one of the most inhospitable in the Sahara desert, extends in the border area between Algeria, Mali, and Niger.
According to the statement released by the Presidency and cited by the official agency APS, "it has been decided to convert a barracks belonging to the National Popular Army in Tanesruft, in the Sahara, into a high-security prison intended for drug traffickers and drug lords." With this transformation, the authorities aim to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking networks operating in the Sahel region.
The decision is part of the resolutions adopted in the most recent session of the Supreme Security Council, chaired by President Abdelmayid Tebune, in which the threat of drug trafficking and its impact on national security was addressed in a monographic manner.
During the meeting, the Council "praised the efforts made by the National Popular Army and the security services," while agreeing to "create a specialized security agency to combat them, as is done in many countries, such as the United States," in an implicit reference to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and its model of action against organized crime.