PARIS: French police have arrested 10 people suspected of aiding a convict caught in Romania nine months after being freed in an ambush in which two prison officers were killed, a prosecutor said on Sunday.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the 10 are alleged to have helped in the escape of Mohamed Amra, who was labelled “public enemy number one” by authorities, is accused of gangland murders and drug trafficking, and who was arrested in Bucharest on Saturday.
Amra vanished after an attack with military-style assault weapons on a prison van carrying him in northern France last May. Two prison officers were killed and three wounded in the attack that was caught on CCTV.
France tasked more than 300 investigators with finding Amra, who is known as “La Mouche” (The Fly), and has a long history of convictions for violent crimes that started when he was 15.
At the time of his escape, Amra was facing one charge for attempted murder and another for participation in a gangland killing in the southern city of Marseille, a hub for drug trafficking and gang violence.