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Drug-traffickers were most likely behind an unprecedented wave of attacks against French prisons though foreign influence and the far-left remain possible instigators, French interior minister Bruno Retailleau said on Thursday.
"It's most likely drug-dealing scum. It is one of the most credible scenarios," Retailleau told RTL radio.
At least nine prison facilities and affiliated institutions have been targeted with nightly arson and other attacks this week and a car was set alight at the home of a prison guard. There was no sign of further violence overnight into Thursday.
President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that those behind an unprecedented wave of attacks would be tracked down and punished after violence flared for a third night.
A car was set on fire in front of the home of a prison guard who works in Aix-Luynes, in southern France, the door of a building in the Seine-et-Marne region was damaged and three cars were set ablaze at Tarascon prison also in southern France, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) said, adding that it was opening an investigation.
That adds to at least nine prison facilities and other affiliated institutions - including a school for prison staff - targeted the previous two nights.
Retailleau confirmed an arrest, but said it was too early to tell if it was linked to the attacks, which the government has said appear to be a response to its efforts to clamp down a record-breaking surge of South American cocaine flooding Europe.
Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin plans to open high-security prisons to house France's top 100 drug kingpins and limit inmates' family contact.
A Telegram group called French Prisoner Rights (DDPF), created the day before the attacks began and arguing that prisoner rights are under threat, is under investigation.
The influx of South American cocaine has transformed local drug markets, sparking a wave of violence.
Despite record cocaine seizures in France, gangs are reaping windfalls as they expand from traditional power bases in cities such as Marseille into smaller towns unused to drug violence.
"Some are trying to intimidate our prison workers and are attacking (prisons) with unacceptable violence. They will be found, sentenced and punished," Macron said on X.
The government has pointed the finger at drug traffickers, but also said that was one among several options being probed.
"There are clearly people who try to destabilise the state by intimidating it," Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin told CNews TV and Europe 1 radio.
"We are taking very firm measures that are leading drug traffickers to react."
Graffiti letters "DDPF" - apparently an acronym for "French prisoners' rights" -were tagged on some of the attack sites, which some police sources said could be the work of unknown left-wing militant groups.
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