Members of the Prison Security teams (ESP) stand guard outside the prison in Vendin-le-Vieil, northern France, on November 24, 2025. SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP
A prisoner convicted of drug trafficking and held in a French high-security jail was granted a day release on Monday, November 24 to meet a potential employer, sparking controversy.
Several vehicles departed from a supermax facility in the northern town of Vendin-le-Vieil early Monday morning, according to an AFP journalist on the scene. The prisoner was expected to travel by train – unescorted – to the eastern city of Lyon for a meeting with a prospective employer, David Lacroix, who represents the FO Justice union, told AFP.
Identified as Ouaihid Ben Faiza by a union source speaking on condition of anonymity, the inmate is considered a key figure in a major drug-trafficking network in Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris. The 52-year-old held in the organized crime wing of the prison has until 9:00 pm to return to the jail. He's due for release in 2029.
"He is not being monitored; he is not being escorted. Someone from his entourage came to pick him up," Ben Faiza's lawyer, Marie Violleau, told broadcaster BFMTV. "He is going from point A to point B to prepare, strengthen and reinforce his reintegration," she added. Ben Faiza already escaped custody during a hospital visit in 2014, remaining at large for two weeks after fleeing with the help of an armed commando.
