French gangster flees prison in spectacular helicopter escape

 

FILE PHOTO: A prison watchtower is seen at Reau penitentiary, near Paris, September 24, 2013. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo

 

PARIS (Reuters) - A French gangster is on the run after being sprung from jail by heavily armed gunmen and escaping in a helicopter that landed in the prison grounds, the justice minister said on Sunday.

 

Redoine Faid was serving a 25-year sentence at a prison south of Paris for an armed robbery that went wrong and led to the death of a policewoman in 2010.

 

He is one of the country's most infamous gangsters with a long criminal career, which he has said was inspired by Hollywood blockbuster movies such as "Scarface" and "Heat".

 

Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet said a helicopter landed in a courtyard, which was not covered by any nets.

 

"This was a spectacular escape. It was an extremely well-prepared commando unit that may have used drones to survey the area beforehand," she told reporters.

 

Two gunmen jumped from the helicopter to free Faid from the visitors' room where he was meeting one of his brothers before escaping in the helicopter, she said. A third gunmen had stayed in the helicopter with the pilot, who had been taken hostage.

 

Nobody was injured and the brother was arrested by police.

 

"They used concrete cutters to get through the first door and then the gates and then went to get him," police union official Jerome Nobecourt told Reuters, adding that the breakout happened in a matter of minutes.

 

The helicopter, the pilot of which was later released, was found burnt out north of Paris, as was a getaway car.

 

Belloubet said police had launched a manhunt and described Faid as dangerous.

 

PREVIOUS ESCAPE

 

It's not the first time Faid has escaped from jail.

 

In 2013, he took four prison guards hostage before using dynamite to blow his way out of jail and fleeing in a waiting getaway car.

 

He was on the run for six weeks and had changed his appearance before police captured him in a hotel with an accomplice.

 

Following a decade in prison, he was released under conditions in 2009 after convincing parole officers that he had changed.

 

His infamy has increased since then following appearances in several television shows and the co-authoring of books recounting his past and rise as a criminal in the tough suburbs of Paris.

 

(Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; writing by John Irish. Editing by Jane Merriman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-07-02

 

Any high security prison that even remotely allows a situation where a helicopter can land within it's parameters without being shot at or stopped, deserves this outcome, i mean, it's not like it was never done before so no one can say we didn't know...

Maybe they were practicing for a new milk tray advert.

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

Any high security prison that even remotely allows a situation where a helicopter can land within it's parameters without being shot at or stopped, deserves this outcome, i mean, it's not like it was never done before so no one can say we didn't know...

& stay there that long whilst cutting their way through the jail to get him - How many tower guards were actually up in them

2 hours ago, webfact said:

"This was a spectacular escape. It was an extremely well-prepared commando unit that may have used drones to survey the area beforehand," she told reporters.

Maybe Assange can hire them . Should be easier than a prison escape.

How funny " At 25 He is one of the country's most infamous gangsters with a long criminal career" 25 year old is just getting started it seems.

i wonder how much he paid his rescuers?

Kinda smells fishey to me perhaps tea money involved?

REDONE must have started at the age of 5 if what has been reported is correct.Well Done for such an impeccable operation. Hope they will have a long holiday before get recaptured?

Several cables strung across the open courtyard would have dissuaded the helicopter. Shooting from the guard towers would have done much to dissuade. Highly likely to have a money or hostage  fix.

Were where the Tower Guards ? Sleeping or on their day off . They Should have had enough fire power to blow a chopper out of the Sky. Idiots in charge of a prison

5 hours ago, colinneil said:

Maybe they were practicing for a new milk tray advert.

meh

2 hours ago, FitnessHealthTravel said:

How funny " At 25 He is one of the country's most infamous gangsters with a long criminal career" 25 year old is just getting started it seems.

 

I guess reading classes were also not your favourite pastime.

Sounds like a movie is coming soon.

3 hours ago, digger70 said:

Were where the Tower Guards ? Sleeping or on their day off . They Should have had enough fire power to blow a chopper out of the Sky. Idiots in charge of a prison

Where would the wreckage land? ?

1 hour ago, evadgib said:

Where would the wreckage land? ?

Helicopter = everywhere 

Pilot was a hostage, thus negating shooting down the helicopter. Traded brother in the process. Note: This was done in minutes. The Prison officers are not prepared to handle such a hit and run operation.

 

He should flee to San Francisco, they will welcome him!

...gotta wonder who his friends are.....

Not all prisons are set up like the ones in the land of the free.

 

Pretty piss-poor security in these prisons imo. So, helicopter can land as no nets, then has enough time for said perps to wander into the meeting rooms and sweep aside the doors etc. without anyone challenging them and just pluck this scumbag out and fly away with no dramas? 

 

Not as if this is the first time this has happened. Why where there no guards shooting at them? Why no nets everywhere? Why no armed officers on the ground too, to engage the perps? Seems pretty softy and lax as this looks like a decent prison. Try pulling this BS in a US prison. 

He might want to watch French winning the world cup ?

 

 

In french, gangster use gun,

but police and prison gard, they cannot.

 

 

 

When the police catch a gangster, he have a lawyer for free,

not the victim...

Hell yeah, love this shit.........

Gotta give the French credit where it's due.

Their crims love this sorta stuff. Plenty of high end stories over the last few decades of criminal enterprise and escapes.

On ‎7‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 9:36 AM, FitnessHealthTravel said:

How funny " At 25 He is one of the country's most infamous gangsters with a long criminal career" 25 year old is just getting started it seems.

Redoine Faid was serving a 25-year sentence