French fugitive ‘The Fly’ is being extradited to France after his arrest in Romania

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A notorious French fugitive who staged a deadly escape that killed two guards last year was being extradited Tuesday to France from Romania, an official said, days after his arrest in Bucharest ended a nine-month international manhunt.

Mohamed Amra, nicknamed “The Fly,” was arrested near a shopping center in Bucharest on Saturday after being identified by Romanian police, despite the 30-year-old having dyed his hair red, possibly to evade detection. The Bucharest Court of Appeal approved his extradition request on Sunday.

An official at Romania’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the legal case was still ongoing, confirmed to The Associated Press that Amra was handed over to French authorities for extradition Tuesday at an airport near Bucharest — where he arrived in handcuffs, flanked by armed police officers.

The high-profile search for Amra began last May, when armed assailants ambushed a prison convoy in Normandy, killing two guards and seriously wounding three others in the process of aiding his escape.

Amra fled after being sentenced for burglary in the Normandy town of Evreux. He was also under investigation for an attempted organized homicide and a kidnapping that resulted in death, French prosecutors said.

The international police organization Interpol issued a notice for his arrest, while French investigators alerted counterparts in other countries after they suspected Amra had left France.

After his arrest on Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron hailed his capture a “formidable success” and praised European colleagues who had ended the long cross-border hunt.

Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau has said that Amra had connections with Marseille’s organized crime syndicates and was suspected of heading a drug trafficking network.

As of Monday night, 25 people had been detained in multiple countries suspected of some role in his escape or the aftermath, the Paris prosecutor said.

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McGrath reported from Sighisoara, Romania.