France prison break: Interpol issue global ‘Red Notice’ for on-the-run criminal ‘The Fly’

An international arrest warrant has been issued in the manhunt for the escaped French [1] inmate [2] nicknamed "The Fly". Mohamed Amra, 30, fled a prison van, which was rammed in an incident which left two guards dead at a toll booth on a motorway in northwest France on Tuesday [3]. A search was launched for Amra, a career criminal, by authorities and now an international arrest warrant has been issued.

Interpol took the action at the request of authorities in France, it is understood. Interpol's "Red Notice" states Amra is wanted for being part of an organised gang and murder, among other offences. Fabrice Moello, a 52-year-old father of two, and Arnaud Garcia, a 35-year-old whose wife was five months pregnant, were killed in machine gunfire on the A154 motorway in Val-de-Reuil in Normandy, while three more guards were left seriously injured.

Amra - who is believed to be well known to the police as the boss of a narcotics network and has a total of 13 convictions to his name - fled alongside the attackers in two vehicles, which were abandoned and found burned a short while later.

France prison van attack: Moment before 'highly dangerous' criminal 'The Fly' freed and two guards killed [4]

Police have released horrifying footage of the ram attack on a custody van in France, in which two officers were executed (AFP via Getty Images)

He is known as "The Fly"[5] and a source close to him stated this is "because he's everywhere, like an annoying fly". Interpol's notice states Amra, born in Rouen, France, is between 174cm and 180cm tall, has "wavy hair and a beard". The career criminal has brown hair and dark brown eyes, the notice adds.

Speaking earlier today, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told RTL radio around 450 officers had been mobilised in the area of the attack in the "unprecedented" search. Expressing hope that Amra could be caught "in the coming days", he said: "We are progressing a lot." Witnesses said the broad daylight raid was over in less than five minutes, with shocked motorists looking on.

The prisoner and gang members initially escaped in two cars - an Audi A5 and a BMW 5 series, but the Audi was quickly found abandoned and burned out. By mid-afternoon on Tuesday, 200 gendarmes had joined members of the elite GIGN anti-terrorist police unit in a nationwide search for Amra and his accomplices. A police spokesman said: "They are armed and very dangerous, and everything is being done to find them."

Amra was being transported between detention centres in Rouen and Evreux, after last week being sentenced to 18 months for a series of aggravated thefts.

He used a gun to rob supermarkets [6] and other businesses in the Evreux suburbs in the summer of 2019.

He is also being held in connection with the execution of a man in Marseille on June 17, 2022.

References

^ French (www.mirror.co.uk)
^ inmate (www.mirror.co.uk)
^ two guards dead at a toll booth on a motorway in northwest France on Tuesday (www.mirror.co.uk)
^ France prison van attack: Moment before 'highly dangerous' criminal 'The Fly' freed and two guards killed (www.mirror.co.uk)
^ He is known as "The Fly" (www.mirror.co.uk)
^ supermarkets (www.mirror.co.uk)