Top 10: Top 10 High-Security Prisons in the World

Top 10 High-Security Prisons in the World

10. Qincheng Prison, China

Qincheng Prison is a maximum-security prison in China that has one of the highest watchtowers in the world. Up to 5,000 security personnel ensure that the prisoners are kept locked in at all times. To add to its security, the prison is located 3,000 feet above sea level. A deep and desolate valley awaits those who plan to escape. Chinese authorities have also set up modern surveillance cameras and electronic equipment.

9. Tadmor Military Prison, Syria

How do you escape a prison that has practically no ground access gate to the outside world? That is how secure Tadmor Military Prison is. The only access to the facility is through an underground tunnel. One has to crawl to get in or out. There are laser beams deployed to ensure that the foolhardy that does try to escape will not succeed. Once inside, prisoners are tied up in heavy chains. Conditions are harsh and even inhumane, with prisoners getting beaten up regularly with metal rods. Executions also happen on a massive scale. The sad part is that not all the prisoners are actually criminals. Some are incarcerated simply because they oppose the Syrian government.

8. Camp Delta, United States

Camp Delta is a prison facility in Guantanamo Bay. It is located in Cuba, though it officially belongs to the United States. The prison was used to house suspected terrorists in the fight against Al Qaeda.

Torture was performed regularly in the past, though this has been cut down and even eliminated totally. Up to 12 guards may be assigned to one prisoner. And even if the prisoner manages to escape, there is the added obstacle in the fact that he would be escaping into an American military base. The border with Cuba is heavily fortified while crossing the sea will lead to Florida.

7. Fuchu Prison, Japan

Fuchu Prison is the largest prison facility in Japan. It is equipped with the latest surveillance gadgets and state-of-the-art equipment to ensure that prisoners are kept inside.

Any small sign of a missing prisoner will trigger off one of the most advanced emergency alert system in the world.

6. Arthur Road Jail, India

Arthur Road Jail is located in the city of Mumbai. Its cells are highly secure and built sturdily to withstand both break ins and escapes.

It claims to be bomb-proof and that not even the most advanced weapons in the arsenal can break the walls and barriers of the prison. No one has ever escaped from this prison and it is highly doubtful if there is anyone foolish enough to try to break into it.

5. Souza Baranowski Center, United States

Souza Baranowski Center is a prison facility located in Massachusetts. A team from the world-renowned institution of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, developed the prison’s surveillance system. The team built a highly advanced camera matrix system that is able to record 24 hours a day every conceivable angle in the facility.

The doors are controlled electronically and are locked automatically. Even the perimeter of the facility is monitored and watched closely 24 hours a day. In other words, it has built a Big Brother type system that can watch the prisoners at all times anywhere.

4. Federal Correctional Complex (Terre Haute), United States

The Federal Correctional Complex in Indiana is a maximum-security prison that employs only a minimal number of guards. Electronic surveillance is done throughout this prison facility. Surveillance cameras afford a 360-degree view.These are monitored constantly in a control room. There are also motion detector sensors strategically located all over the prison. There is also a face detection technology to help identify the inmates. As if this was not enough, each prisoner’s cell has a biometric lock. It is said to be the most high tech prison in the world.

3. La Sante Prison, France

La Sante Prison in Paris is an inescapable facility and hundreds of prisoners had to find this out the hard way.

Several years ago, a group of prisoners tried to escape from the facility by going through the drainage system. Even that part of the facility proved to be so secure that the prisoners ended up getting trapped in the tunnel. As a result, most suffocated to death.

2. Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, United States

This prison actually closed down in 1963, but its legend lives on because of its seemingly fortress status. America’s most notorious criminals stayed there, including Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, Rafael Miranda and Whitey Bulger.

There were 14 escape attempts made by 36 prisoners, of which only five were unaccounted for and are presumed to have died by drowning.

The prison was located in an island and escape from it meant having to swim 1.5 miles to the nearest mainland shore. It closed down as salt water kept eroding the buildings and San Francisco residents expressed concern over the sewage that the prisoners and the prison officers’ families were dumping into the sea.