‘‘France at tipping point over drug trafficking threat’ ’ 

As the manhunt continued, the Macron administration was reeling from accusations it has failed to grasp the extent to which drug trafficking has “submerged” France.

A senatorial report released on Tuesday warned that the country had reached a “tipping point” in which “the rule of law” in certain areas had come under serious threat from the narco-industry, which officials say rakes in up to €6 billion per year in France and “employs” 240,000 people.

The government’s response so far has been “meagre” and “not up to the task”, warned the cross-party commission of inquiry, despite a high-profile, nationwide drugs “clean-up” operation launched two months ago.

The brutal assault and report on drugs comes less than a month before European elections in which Mr Macron’s candidate, Valerie Hayer is trailing the hard-Right National Rally led by Jordan Bardella.

In a visit to the Fresnes prison outside Paris on Wednesday morning, François-Xavier Bellamy, the head of the Republicans list for the European elections expressed “his solidarity with all prison staff”.

“Today, the state is losing the war”, he said.

“The warnings have been repeated all too often”, he added, stressing “the urgent need to give our police and prison forces the resources they need to carry out their duties”.