Ben Pawlowski
KNOWN as ‘The Fly’, inmate Mohammed Amra remains at large after escaping from a prison van in a dramatic ambush at a tollbooth in France which claimed the lives of two guards and left two others critically injured.
The prisoner, who is said to have ties to the drug-fuelled violence hub of Marseille, was being taken from court back to prison on Tuesday when a heavily-armed masked gang opened fire on the convoy and successfully freed Amra.
Prosecutors say that the 30-year old, who was most recently found guilty of robbery and handed an 18-month prison sentence, has 13 previous convictions including theft, driving without a licence and refusing to stop for police.
He had also been indicted by prosecutors for a kidnapping that led to a death in Marseille.
‘The Fly’ is also accused of ordering the murder of a Frenchman in the luxury Marbella marina of Puerto Banus in July 2023.
French judicial police suspect that Amra ordered the murder of a French nicknamed Mehdi, a possible rival who had links to drug trafficking, from his prison cell.
Amra has not yet been charged in connection with the failed assassination attempt, but Spanish police had suspected French involvement after images circulated on social media showing the attacker, armed with an automatic assault rifle, wearing an Olympique Lyon football shirt.
According to prosecutors, Amra was not a ‘closely watched inmate’, but had been caught trying to escape from his cell by sawing off the bars just two days prior to the dramatic ambush, which saw him moved to solitary confinement.
Amra’s lawyer, Hugues Vigier, said that he was shocked by the ‘inexcusable’ and ‘insane’ violence,adding that ‘this does not correspond to the impression that I had of him’.
Amra’s mother claimed that she did not know about the premeditated attack, saying: “He doesn’t talk to me. He’s my son, but he doesn’t talk to me about anything at all”.
Over 450 officers have now been mobilised with a massive international manhunt underway for the escapee and the gang who conducted the attack.
A day of blockades dubbed ‘Dead Prisons Day’ has been announced in jails across France, with demonstrations reported outside of prisons in Paris, Rouen, Nice, Grasse, Draguignan and Amiens as prison officer unions unite to respond to Tuesday’s attack.
