BRAZEN RAID
New vid shows horror of drug boss The Fly’s deadly jailbreak as French launch ‘Operation Sparrowhawk’ to hunt fugitive
France has launched an enormous manhunt dubbed 'Operation Sparrowhawk' to catch inmate Mohamed Amra
DISTURBING footage shows the moment drug kingpin "The Fly" was sprung free by armed gunmen who ambushed his prison convoy.
A black car smashes into the police van, trapping the helpless guards before four masked gunmen close in on them and unleash fire.
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Dressed from head to toe in black and wielding huge weapons, the hijackers creep out from underneath the tollbooth and swarm in.
After prising open the doors of the cop cars, they drag out a handcuffed Mohamed Amra.
The "highly dangerous" dealer, convicted of attempted murder, is now the subject of a nationwide manhunt.
Before Amra and his associates spring him free, an explosion sparks from inside the black car.
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All five scatter and disappear behind the tollbooth barriers, before making their escape.
Amra, known to cops for drug trafficking, burglary and attempted murder, was being transferred from Rouen to Evreuz prison when the ambush hit.
The career criminal, reportedly "head of a narcotics network" in France, had just appeared in court after a recent burglary charge.
His transport convoy was struck near Eure, in Normandy as the van stopped at a motorway tollbooth in Incarville around 11am.
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Shocking video taken from onboard a passing bus showed the armed gunmen brandishing what was described by cops as AK 47s.
The professional looking shooters, clad in all black with hoods and gloves, run towards the convoy as the clip turns to take in the scene.
Pools of blood could be seen covering the floor in front of the smashed vans.
Other video appeared to show police tending to a colleague as he lay bleeding on the floor.
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Three officers were seriously injured in the ambush alongside the two who died.
It also captured the two white police vans with their doors flung open and windows smashed.
One of the cars used in the escape, a white Audi A5, was found destroyed in Vatteville.
The other, a BMW 5 headed in the direction of Louviers and Evreux and later found burnt out near Evreux hospital.
The police commander of Eure has activated a "plan Epervier", or Sparrowhawk plan to catch them, which puts all levels of officials on high alert.
It was last used during the search for notorious gangster and jailbreaker Redoine Faid in 2018 and in 2015 following the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
Amra was being transported between prisons after last week being sentenced to 18 months for a series of aggravated theft.
He used a gun to rob supermarkets and other businesses in the Evreux suburbs in the summer of 2019.
Amra was also being held in connection with the death of a man in Marseille on June 17, 2022.
A polices source told RTL "He is suspected of having ordered an assassination in Marseille on June 17, 2022.
"The charred corpse of a man was found in a burned vehicle, in the town of Le Rove, bordering Marseilles. The victim had obviously been executed beforehand with a bullet to the head."
A source with knowledge of his criminal history said: "Amra is nicknamed the fly, because he's everywhere, like an annoying fly.
"He's been arrested for everything from robbery and burglary to numerous crimes against the person.
"He's a classic street criminal, and just the type who revels in a nickname. I’d suggest he like to hang around human waste products too, which also makes him like a fly."
French justice minister Eric Dupond Moretti wrote on X: "A prison convoy was attacked in Eure.
"Two of our prison officers have died, three are seriously injured.
"All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and their colleagues.
"I immediately go to the crisis unit of @justice_gouv."
A local council official, Alexandre Rassaert, said: "I was frozen with horror when I learned of the real carnage that took place at the Incarville tollbooth.
"I sincerely hope that the gang of killers who carried out this bloody attack will be quickly arrested.
"All my thoughts go to the families of the service agents. penitentiary who escorted the detainees and who were killed or seriously injured during this attack which gave them no chance.
"I also think of all the prison administration guards who, every day, guard prisoners at the risk of their lives."
French president Emmanuel Macron wrote on X this afternoon: "This morning's attack, which cost the lives of prison officers, is a shock to us all.
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"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."
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