Algeria Plans High-Security Prison for Drug Traffickers in One of the World’s Harshest Deserts

Algeria plans to send major drug traffickers to a high-security prison in Tanezrouft, a remote desert region known as one of the harshest places in the world.

The presidency announced Wednesday that it would convert a military barracks in the desert into the prison. The facility will be reserved for “drug barons and traffickers,” according to a presidential statement that gave no further details. The decision was taken at a meeting of the High Security Council chaired by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

The authorities also decided to establish a specialized security body to fight drug trafficking, modeled on agencies operating in several countries, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The announcement comes as Algerian authorities issue increasingly frequent warnings about the growth of narcotics trafficking. The country has nearly 46 million people and about 6,400 kilometers of land borders. Figures attributed to the National Office for the Fight Against Drugs and Addiction say Algeria had more than three million drug users in 2024.

Authorities regularly report large seizures. On Aug. 21, they said they had intercepted more than 10 million pregabalin capsules, a psychoactive substance, along with more than 33 kilograms of cocaine, describing it as a record seizure.

Tanezrouft lies in Algeria’s far southwest, near the border with Mali. The almost uninhabited desert, nicknamed the “land of thirst,” is among the Sahara’s most isolated and hostile areas, with summer temperatures that can exceed 50 degrees Celsius.

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drug barons and traffickers