19-year-old inmate captured weeks after escaping French jail with bedsheets

French police on Thursday caught a second inmate who had escaped from jail in late November by sawing by means of cell bars and utilizing bedsheets, sources near the case informed AFP.

The 19-year-old escapee, suspected in a drug-linked tried homicide case, was discovered within the southern port metropolis of Marseille after Interpol issued a purple discover for him, two sources near the case informed AFP, talking on situation of anonymity.

He and one other detainee had fled an overcrowded jail within the japanese metropolis of Dijon after sawing by means of their cell bars with blades that investigators suspect had been delivered by drone.

Police tracked down the Marseille native some 310 miles south of the jail to a run-down condominium advanced within the north of town, identified to be a drug-dealing hotspot.

His fellow fugitive, a 32-year-old man accused of violence towards a associate, was arrested a day after their escape, when cops swooped down on a village bar the place he was sipping espresso.

The Dijon public prosecutor’s workplace confirmed Thursday’s arrest to AFP, with out providing additional particulars.

France has a few of the worst jail overcrowding in Europe, rating third worst after Slovenia and Cyprus, based on a Council of Europe report printed in July. In early October, the nationwide common was 135 inmates per 100 locations out there. Dijon jail, in-built 1853, is in poor situation, with 311 inmates for 180 locations, based on the justice ministry.

“Old school” blades

Guards seen the 2 males had fled from the Dijon jail earlier than daybreak.

The 32-year-old man had left a message in his cell, saying he had been held for “too lengthy,” based on Dijon’s public prosecutor, Olivier Caracotch. It was not instantly clear for the way lengthy he had been held.

Union official Ahmed Saih, who represents jail officers on the jail, informed AFP shortly after the breakout that the inmates used “old school, guide noticed blades,” and that a number of such blades had been discovered beforehand.

The saws had been doubtless delivered by drones, Caracotch mentioned following the escape, with a number of people already sentenced over drone deliveries to the identical jail.

In early October, French prisons hosted 135 inmates per 100 locations out there.

The Dijon jail, in-built 1853, is in poor situation, with 311 inmates for 180 locations, based on the justice ministry.

Within the week earlier than the breakout, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin introduced the Dijon facility was scheduled to obtain $7.3 million as a part of a program to eradicate cell phones from six French prisons.

The jail break got here lower than two weeks after one other escape within the northwestern metropolis of Rennes. A 37-year-old convict, who had greater than a 12 months left to serve for theft, fled on Nov. 14 throughout an outing with fellow prisoners to town’s planetarium. He was later caught within the close by metropolis of Nantes.

Final 12 months, a boss from one in all Italy’s most violent mafias who escaped from a most safety jail final 12 months by utilizing bedsheets was captured in France, authorities in each international locations mentioned Friday. Marco Raduano, described as “harmful” on Europol’s listing of Europe’s most wished criminals, was detained in Bastia on the French island of Corsica.