Gunmen wearing balaclavas ambushed a prison van in northern France on Tuesday to free a drug dealer known as &The Fly,& killing two prison guards, severely wounding three and triggering a major police manhunt.The brazen, morning attack at a toll booth in Incarville in the Eure region of northern France underlines the growing threat of drug crime across Europe, the world'sNo.1 cocaine market, Reuters reported.It came on the same day that France'sSenate released a major report on drug trafficking, warning that the country faces a &tipping point& from rising narco violence that represents &a threat to the fundamental interests of the nation.&The fugitive inmate, named Mohamed Amra, is a 30-year-old drug dealer from northern France, according to the Paris prosecutor'soffice and police sources.He had been convicted of burglary by a court in Evreux on May 10 and was being held at the Val de Reuil prison, Reuters reported.Amra had also been indicted by prosecutors in Marseille for a kidnapping that led to a death, the Paris prosecutor'soffice said.A police source in Marseille told Reuters Amra was a drug dealer with ties to the city'spowerful &Blacks& gang.Images on social media showed gunmen in balaclavas circling near an SUV that was in flames.
The SUV appeared to have been rammed into the front of the prison van.Amra'slawyer, Hugues Vigier, told BFM TV that the violence of the incident did not correspond with the person he knew.
He said Amra had tried to escape from prison on Sunday by sawing at the bars of his cell.&This element suggests that there was an escape attempt in preparation,& Vigier said.Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said a major manhunt had been launched, with several hundred officers involved.Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti said the prison van was attacked while Amra was being driven to meet an investigating judge in Rouen.
He said two of the injured officers were in critical condition.&Absolutely everything will be done to find the perpetrators of this despicable crime,& he told BFM TV.
&These are people for whom life means nothing.
They will be arrested, judged and punished according to the crime they committed.&The post Manhunt underway after gunmen ambush French prison van to free drug dealer first appeared on Ariana News.