Tracking down Mohamed Amra: six months after his escape, where is “public enemy number 1” hiding?

Mohamed Amra is still nowhere to be found, six months after an escape during which two prison officers were killed. The authorities no longer communicate about this issue, which appears to be a serious setback for them.

Is it a failure, despite enormous resources invested, or a question of time, in the face of increasingly structured drug traffickers? Six months after Mohamed Amra's escape which cost the lives of two prison officers, the police and justice system are still eagerly tracking him but without success. When we ask those familiar with these files, the 94 days on the run for repeat robber Rédoine Faïd in 2018 after his escape from prison come up again and again.

With Mohamed Amra, the counter increases: Thursday, 184 days will have passed since the bloody attack at the Incarville toll booth (Eure) during which this repeat offender involved in drug trafficking escaped, accompanied by accomplices. This tragedy cost the lives of two prison officers and caused national shock. “We will be intractable”President Emmanuel Macron wrote about X.

Also read – Tracking down Mohamed Amra: where is the investigation into public enemy number 1?

“Even if we arrest Amra, it will be a failure”

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Since that day, investigators and magistrates of the National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime (Junalco) of the Paris court have constantly ensured their efforts. When contacted, several official police sources declined any comment. The Paris prosecutor's office told him that “it is very obvious that the teams are fully mobilized and that the disclosure of any element whatsoever could, for the moment, only jeopardize the investigations.” But the public prosecutor did not “no new element to communicate”.

What remains are comments, conjectures and the future. As informed observers of these disputes, several specialized lawyers are surprised at a “failure“, at this stage, in this hunt, especially after the initially encouraging comments from the authorities. For a specialized magistrate, “even if we stop Amra, it will still be a failure“. “We should have had it in a month. I hope he's abroad, otherwise we're really bad.” “It's a snub,” agrees another specialized magistrate. On the contrary, a police source believes that “Just because you didn't hug a guy quickly doesn't mean it's a failure. There are plenty of cases where it took time.” “We must let the investigation take place”she pleads.

Then the conjectures. Some imagine Amra in France, others are betting on Europe. For the first specialized magistrate cited, “we always end up catching criminals on the run, but it takes more and more time” From now on. Another police source believes that investigators have “positioned 'bells' everywhere. Now they wait for one to work and for Amra to make a mistake. With time, routine, he will make one.” “He may have more financial strength to carry out this escape than Faïd, who was a robber. It may all be a matter of bank accounts“, also underlines this police source.

Also read – Hunt for Mohamed Amra: police launch appeal for witnesses after the escape of the repeat offender detainee

What lessons can we learn?

The second specialized magistrate discusses the investment of organized crime “on documentary fraud” which allows him to “cross the world” with “perfect false papers“. The delay also increases the conviction of some, present since the escape, that Amra did not escape but was kidnapped.é, for example “par subcontractors”, as the first magistrate suggests or as imagined by “stunning” (drug traffickers) with their lawyer contacted by AFP. But deep down, “They don't know anything about it“, adds the latter.

In the meantime, what lessons can we learn today? An observer of these subjects points out the flaws in prison intelligence, “oamazed by the 'bearded'” but who “does not know how to manage 'crim'org' profiles (organized crime, Editor's note)”. In mid-August, a report from the General Inspectorate of Justice highlighted a “deficit“communication between the various judicial and penitentiary authorities and investigators. The first specialized magistrate is concerned about the absence of “trace of powder or “of weapons“after months or years of tracking: more complicated to obtain one”life sentence” if the formal proof “that so-and-so was indeed a member of the commando or that he was one of those who fired” is not brought to the hearing.

Mary Garcia, the wife of Arnaud, one of the two dead prison officers, wants to keep “trust”she, in justice. “Mary Garcia told me that there were days when she lost hope.” suffering in particular from not having “no news” of the investigation six months later, his lawyer, Pauline Ragot, told AFP. “But we also know that the justice system and the police are mobilizing all their efforts. We have confidence”assured the council.

(upday with AFP)