With his socks pulled up and slides on his feet, a Real Madrid flag on the wall behind him, Samy R. posed happily for the photo, as if to say: "Welcome to my cell." The picture was taken in his cell in the winter of 2023, with the door open in the background. He was hugging a young woman whose badge, bearing words written in white on blue, read: "penitentiary administration." The souvenir photo was discovered at the prison guard's home during a police search in February 2025.

Investigators had been closely monitoring Samy R.'s activities while he was incarcerated. They did so discreetly, as there were strong suspicions that staff members at the prison in Aiton, in the French Alps, were complicit in his dealings, allowing him to run a thriving trade in all sorts of items, ranging from drugs to meat and even ceramic knives.

Repeated searches of his cell revealed his ability to smuggle in anything that might interest his fellow inmates: "a lump of brownish substance and four green tablets" which tested positive for narcotics, two bottles of perfume (La Nuit de L'Homme, by Yves Saint Laurent, and Dioriviera, by Christian Dior), sliced smoked duck breast, sausage, dried lamb and beef, an Xbox 360 console, nine controllers, a blender, a bevy of mobile phones and e-cigarettes, chargers, and even El Mordjene chocolate spread from Algeria, the sale of which is banned in France.

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