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Wanted French drugs trafficker in deadly jail escape held in Romania

Mohamed Amra, 30, who was freed from a prison van in May last year when heavily armed accomplices attacked the vehicle at a motorway toll booth in Normandy, killing two guards and wounding three others, has been arrested in the Romanian capital Bucharest. 

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

A French convict who went on the run after escaping a police van in a deadly ambush has been arrested in Romania, according to French authorities, reports BBC News.

Two prison officers were killed and three others injured when a vehicle carrying Mohamed Amra was attacked by men using military-grade assault weapons in May 2024.

Amra, known as La Mouche, or The Fly, has links to a major drug gang in Marseille, according to French police.

President Emmanuel Macron hailed his capture as "a formidable success" and said his thoughts were with the families of the prison officers who died.

Macron said he also wanted "to thank our European colleagues and French investigators who had been hunting Mohamed Amra for months and months".

France's Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau thanked Romania for its "crucial cooperation".

Amra escaped from a prison van after the vehicle was ambushed by gunmen at a toll booth at around 11:00 (09:00 GMT) on 14 May near Rouen, Normandy.

Two prisoner officers were killed after the van was rammed and shots were fired. Three other officers were injured.

Read more of this report from BBC News.