Mohammed 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.
Two prison officers were shot dead while three others were seriously injured during the shooting, which occurred in broad daylight on a motorway around an hour from Paris.
Dramatic footage from the scene at the time showed men wearing black sports clothes using automatic machine pistols, while horrified motorists look on.
According to reports prison guards found Amra sawing through the bars of his cell two days before the attack.
The failed escape attempt prompted his relocation to a different disciplinary unit with his surveillance level bumped up.
His transportation still reportedly required a “level three escort”, which meant there were five prison officers travelling with him.
Amra, 30, is understood to be the boss of a narcotics network who is known by the nickname “La Mouche”.
“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.
Police sources said Amra is an international drug trafficker, a suspect in a kidnap and murder case in Marseille, and had ties to the southern city’s powerful “Blacks” gang.
At the time of the prison van ambush, the 30-year-old was being transported to Evreux jail after attending a court hearing in Rouen.
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.
