Masked gunmen armed with machine guns have rammed a prison van and shot two prison guards dead as they freed a “highly dangerous” drugs gang boss.
Four armed men attacked the prison van on Tuesday morning which was travelling in a convoy after they were returning to Evreux jail after a court hearing in Rouen, France.
The French Justice Minister confirmed that two prison guards were shot dead and three others were left “seriously injured.”
The “highly dangerous” drugs boss was freed from the prison van and fled in a car with the armed men and remains on the run.
The escaped criminal is known as “The Fly” and his conviction was for burglary and the 30-year old has previously been charged with attempted murder.
According to a police source who told Le Parisien, he is the “head of narcotics network” across France.
BREAKING:
The gang wars in France are spiraling out of control
3 prison guards were killed & 3 were seriously wounded after 4 men armed with Kalashnikovs rammed their van while transporting a gang leader from one prison to another
Mob leader,Mohamed “The Fly” managed to escape pic.twitter.com/gTxoTsmfEA
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 14, 2024
Footage shows the moment when the armed men rammed the convoy on the motorway and the route was supposed to have been kept secret.
The French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said, “All means are being used to find these criminals. On my instructions, several hundred police officers and gendarmes were mobilised.
The French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, “This morning’s attack, which cost the lives of prison officers, is a shock to us all.
“The Nation stands alongside the families, the injured and their colleagues. Everything is being done to find the perpetrators of this crime so that justice can be done in the name of the French people. We will be intractable.”
