Algeria to build high-security drug prison in remote Sahara desert

Algeria announced Wednesday it will convert a military barracks in the Tanezrouft desert, one of the most remote and hostile regions of the Sahara, into a high-security prison for drug traffickers. The decision was made during a High Security Council meeting chaired by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, with the facility reserved for "drug barons and traffickers," according to a presidency statement. Authorities also plan to create a specialized anti-drug security agency modeled on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The move comes amid growing concern over narcotics trafficking in Algeria, a country of nearly 46 million people with about 6,400 kilometers of land borders. The Tanezrouft, nicknamed the "land of thirst," is nearly uninhabited with summer temperatures exceeding 50°C.