Bangladesh, May 22 -- In an unprecedented sweep of correctional facilities across the country, French authorities have uncovered a vast and dangerous trade in ultra-compact mobile phones being smuggled into prisons. These devices, nicknamed “thumb phones” or “suppositories” in prison slang due to their diminutive size and concealability, have become central tools for coordinating serious criminal activity from behind bars-including drug trafficking, money laundering, and contract killings.

The revelation came as part of “Operation Prison Break,” a nationwide crackdown conducted on May 20, during which French authorities searched nearly 500 cells in 66 prisons. Thousands of the tiny phones were seized, ...