Mohamed Amra, a French fugitive known as “The Fly,” who was freed by gunmen in a brazen attack against a prison van in May, was arrested in Romania on Saturday, the French interior minister said.
French police had launched a massive manhunt for the fugitive, whose escape resulted in the deaths of two prison guards and was seized upon by right-wing politicians as evidence that France had lost its grip on drug crime.
Three officers were wounded in the attack, which was caught on CCTV and shocked France because of its extraordinary violence.
France had tasked more than 300 investigators with finding Amra and had requested an Interpol red notice, hoping for foreign assistance.
“I congratulate all forces which made Mohamed Amra’s arrest in Romania today possible. A warm thank you to Romania for its decisive cooperation,” Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on X.
Amra is a 30-year-old from northern France, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. Police sources said he was involved in drug trafficking and accused of being a major drugs gangland figure.
Amra has a long history of convictions for violent crimes that started when he was 15. He was also suspected of ordering hits while in prison.
At the time of his escape, Amra was facing two fresh charges, one for attempted murder and another for participation in a gangland killing in the southern city of Marseille on the French Riviera, a hub for drug trafficking and gang violence.
But despite the government labelling him “public enemy number one,” and the deployment of massive means, Amra was not captured as quickly as the authorities had hoped.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said he had been convicted of burglary by a court in Evreux on May 10 and was being held at the Val de Reuil prison until his escape on May 14.
He had also been indicted by prosecutors in Marseille for a kidnapping that led to a death, it said.
On Saturday, the government reacted with relief that the chase was over.
“After a manhunt lasting several months, Amra has been arrested, finally!” Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on X.
President Emmanuel Macron hailed Amra’s capture as “a formidable success.”
Some information in this report is from Agence France-Presse.
