A notorious French convict who used a helicopter to break out of prison in July has been arrested north of Paris.
Redoine Faid was detained in the early hours of Wednesday morning, a police official told CNN, “along with his brother, two men and a woman.”
The 46-year-old had been the most-wanted man in France since his spectacular prison escape this summer, the second time he had broken free since he was jailed for 25 years for his role in a failed 2010 robbery that resulted in the death of French police officer Aurélie Fouquet.
In early July, multiple heavily armed men hijacked a helicopter and forced the pilot to fly to Faid’s prison in Seine-et-Marne, near Paris, where they collected the prisoner. They then flew to the Val d’Oise region where they transferred him to an unidentified vehicle.
The case was a huge embarrassment for French police, coming five years after a previous successful escape by Faid.
Back in April 2013, Faid held five people – including four guards – at gunpoint in a detention center in the northern city of Lille. He then detonated explosives to destroy five doors and escape.
While on the run, Faid grew a beard and wore a wig. After an international manhunt that spanned dozens of countries, he was captured at a hotel east of Paris and locked up in a different prison.
French officials said that for the helicopter escape, the gang helping Faid used drones for reconnaissance, surveilling the prison and choosing a pickup point.
The escape followed a warning from a prison officer that Faid was taking too much interest in the prison where he was being held and should be transferred to another facility.