Dubai Telegraph - French convict freed in murderous ambush is arrested in Romania

EUR -
AED 3.843685
AFN 77.423228
ALL 98.991341
AMD 412.46392
ANG 1.886635
AOA 958.556336
ARS 1108.465738
AUD 1.646152
AWG 1.883625
AZN 1.783134
BAM 1.955629
BBD 2.113615
BDT 127.188874
BGN 1.958046
BHD 0.394166
BIF 3100.228812
BMD 1.046458
BND 1.399278
BOB 7.233367
BRL 5.998828
BSD 1.046808
BTN 90.393093
BWP 14.40974
BYN 3.4259
BYR 20510.585864
BZD 2.102816
CAD 1.489686
CDF 3003.336166
CHF 0.939704
CLF 0.025745
CLP 987.943581
CNY 7.587913
CNH 7.589571
COP 4267.526704
CRC 528.753748
CUC 1.046458
CUP 27.731149
CVE 110.255356
CZK 25.074509
DJF 186.413694
DKK 7.460835
DOP 65.234294
DZD 141.056661
EGP 52.899373
ERN 15.696877
ETB 131.860866
FJD 2.401313
FKP 0.827646
GBP 0.828517
GEL 2.934124
GGP 0.827646
GHS 16.252578
GIP 0.827646
GMD 75.345381
GNF 9051.208258
GTQ 8.079293
GYD 219.600791
HKD 8.131035
HNL 26.759659
HRK 7.537226
HTG 137.397981
HUF 403.295032
IDR 17059.470501
ILS 3.732236
IMP 0.827646
INR 90.674841
IQD 1371.38004
IRR 44042.824533
ISK 145.751138
JEP 0.827646
JMD 165.145554
JOD 0.742153
JPY 156.16827
KES 135.618137
KGS 91.513195
KHR 4199.632643
KMF 492.362677
KPW 941.818353
KRW 1503.48354
KWD 0.32299
KYD 0.872424
KZT 529.363695
LAK 22740.010848
LBP 93743.89988
LKR 309.492928
LRD 208.841732
LSL 19.20112
LTL 3.08992
LVL 0.632993
LYD 5.115553
MAD 10.421088
MDL 19.534291
MGA 4950.566956
MKD 61.524618
MMK 2196.437436
MNT 3626.32255
MOP 8.378667
MRU 41.884336
MUR 48.430494
MVR 16.119373
MWK 1815.241214
MXN 21.38365
MYR 4.623781
MZN 66.872598
NAD 19.20112
NGN 1572.053084
NIO 38.52663
NOK 11.664981
NPR 144.629349
NZD 1.822622
OMR 0.402655
PAB 1.046808
PEN 3.855663
PGK 4.274626
PHP 60.565357
PKR 292.589906
PLN 4.162446
PYG 8260.277443
QAR 3.815966
RON 4.979158
RSD 117.189749
RUB 93.091857
RWF 1473.071145
SAR 3.924399
SBD 8.824657
SCR 15.046684
SDG 628.921891
SEK 11.146984
SGD 1.39734
SHP 0.831543
SLE 23.796854
SLL 21943.716629
SOS 598.247669
SRD 37.215242
STD 21659.577382
SVC 9.160199
SYP 13606.033167
SZL 19.195321
THB 35.122325
TJS 11.410502
TMT 3.662605
TND 3.31001
TOP 2.450914
TRY 38.036712
TTD 7.113378
TWD 34.31132
TZS 2706.063291
UAH 43.564289
UGX 3843.663781
USD 1.046458
UYU 45.206046
UZS 13520.817285
VES 66.273192
VND 26710.852255
VUV 129.071619
WST 2.940274
XAF 655.899626
XAG 0.032128
XAU 0.000356
XCD 2.828107
XDR 0.79883
XOF 655.899626
XPF 119.331742
YER 258.792935
ZAR 19.231085
ZMK 9419.385666
ZMW 29.49442
ZWL 336.959198
  • RELX

    -1.1200

    49.29

    -2.27%

  • NGG

    0.2100

    61.31

    +0.34%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1300

    7.7

    -1.69%

  • RBGPF

    65.4200

    65.42

    +100%

  • RIO

    -0.7600

    63.53

    -1.2%

  • GSK

    0.0807

    36.64

    +0.22%

  • AZN

    0.7100

    74.22

    +0.96%

  • CMSC

    -0.0300

    23.37

    -0.13%

  • BTI

    -0.7000

    37.85

    -1.85%

  • VOD

    0.1000

    8.36

    +1.2%

  • SCS

    -0.1200

    12.31

    -0.97%

  • BCC

    -9.4800

    107

    -8.86%

  • BP

    -0.2800

    33.89

    -0.83%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    12.8

    -0.16%

  • BCE

    0.4000

    23.97

    +1.67%

  • CMSD

    -0.0500

    23.42

    -0.21%

French convict freed in murderous ambush is arrested in Romania
French convict freed in murderous ambush is arrested in Romania / Photo: Handout - INTERPOL/AFP

French convict freed in murderous ambush is arrested in Romania

A French convict, on the run since being freed last May in an ambush that left two prison officers dead, has been arrested in Romania, the interior ministers of both countries said Saturday.

Text size:

Mohamed Amra, accused of being a major drugs gangland figure, had vanished without a trace after an attack with military-grade assault weapons on a prison van carrying him in the northwestern Normandy region.

Three more officers were wounded in the attack that was caught on CCTV and shocked France because of its extraordinary violence.

France tasked more than 300 investigators with finding Amra, and requested an Interpol red notice hoping for foreign assistance.

Amra, reportedly known as "La Mouche" (The Fly), has a long history of convictions for violent crimes that started when he was only 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, 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 vanished.

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", saying 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".

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on X he wanted to "warmly thank Romania for its crucial cooperation".

Romanian police said that Amra had been arrested in Bucharest, and would be brought before a magistrate there.

"Romanian police located, identified and captured him within 48 hours receiving the information that he was on our territory," Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Predoiu said in a statement.

At the time of the ambush, Amra was being transferred from his prison cell to the office of an investigating magistrate for questioning.

The manner of the attack, involving an armoured vehicle as well as the high-powered guns, highlighted the extreme levels of violence deployed by what police said is a new generation of drug dealers.

The attack marked the first deaths of French prison officers in the line of duty since 1992.

When police came up empty-handed after several months of searching for Amra, investigating magistrates following the case had begun to voice their frustration.

"I hope that he's abroad," said one magistrate in November, after six months of no success. "Otherwise we're really doing a bad job."

For a while, the theory that Amra had not actually escaped but been abducted by rivals got some traction in an attempt to explain why he still had not been caught.

burs-jh/gv

D.Farook--DT