Redoine Faid: French gangster escapes prison in helicopter

A manhunt is underway in France after a notorious gangster was sprung from jail by heavily armed men, who whisked him away in a hijacked helicopter that had landed inside the prison grounds.

Redoine Faid was serving a 25-year sentence for murder, following a botched armed robbery that left a policewoman dead in 2010.

French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet said the helicopter landed in a courtyard at Reau prison, on the outskirts of Paris. Two armed men broke into the jail and freed Faid from the visitor’s room, where he was meeting his brother.

“This was a spectacular escape,” Belloubet said. “It was an extremely well-prepared commando unit that may have used drones to survey the area beforehand.”

Police union official Jerome Nobecourt told Reuters: “They used concrete cutters to get through the first door and then the gates and then went to get him.”

The courtyard used in the escape “is the only area not equipped with anti-aircraft netting”, reports France24, as it is only used when inmates are entering or being released from the prison.

The helicopter was found burnt out northeast of Paris, near Charles de Gaulle Airport. The pilot, a flying instructor who had been taken hostage, was found unharmed.

This is not the first time 46-year-old Faid has “pulled off a spectacular jailbreak”, says The Daily Telegraph.

Faid escaped from a different prison in 2013, using dynamite to blast his way through five security doors and taking four wardens hostage, before fleeing. He was re-captured six weeks later.