French justice is investigating an alleged terrorist plot linked to Salah Abdeslam, the last surviving member of the commandos of the deadly attacks of November 13, 2015, with three people currently in custody, the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) said on Saturday.

France will commemorate on Thursday, during a day of tribute to the victims, the tenth anniversary of these attacks which left 130 dead and hundreds injured in Paris and Saint-Denis.

Salah Abdeslam, imprisoned in Vendin-le-Vieil prison (north) for his participation in these attacks, was briefly taken into custody on Tuesday as part of an investigation opened in January 2025 concerning the illegal possession of a USB key in prison.

On Saturday, the Pnat announced that the investigation had been "extended" to the offense of terrorist conspiracy with a view to preparing a crime against persons.

After being detained on Tuesday, Salah Abdeslam was taken into custody again on Friday and released the same day, according to the public prosecutor's office. He is suspected of possessing illegally obtained goods.

The prosecutor's office specified that another person had been taken into custody on Tuesday. This person's detention "is still ongoing and has been extended beyond the initial 96 hours, for a further 24 hours."

The justice system can exceptionally extend police custody beyond the 96 hours provided for, in the event of "a serious risk of an imminent terrorist action in France or abroad" or if "the needs of international cooperation imperatively require it".

This measure, which is carried out with the authorization of a judge of freedoms and detention, is very rarely used by the anti-terrorism justice system.

According to RTL radio, this person is Salah Abdeslam's partner, presented by the daily newspaper Le Parisien as Maëva B., 27 years old, who allegedly maintained a long-standing epistolary relationship with the detainee before being allowed to meet him.

According to the Pnat, she is in custody for receiving stolen goods and for criminal terrorist association.

"Two other people were taken into custody on Friday on charges of criminal terrorist association. Their custody is ongoing," the prosecutor's office further stated.

A prison union source told AFP on Thursday that "USB key connections were found" on Salah Abdeslam's computer, which he was legally allowed to buy to "take courses", but with "very limited use".

This USB key, which, according to Le Parisien, was used to transfer jihadist propaganda onto Salah Abdeslam's computer, "was searched for but not found," according to the union source.

According to this source, his DPS detention regime, for "particularly flagged detainee", means that he is subject to "regular cell changes" during which systematic checks are carried out on his belongings.

In an interview with AFP broadcast on Saturday, the national anti-terrorism prosecutor Olivier Christen stated that the jihadist threat is "the most significant both in its volume and in the level of preparation for carrying out attacks" and "has been increasing" for three years.

AFP