French 'jailbreak king' bank robber Antonio Ferrara arrested

PARIS (Reuters) - A French bank robber nicknamed the "jailbreak king" has been arrested following cooperation with Belgian authorities, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Thursday.

French media reports said Antonio Ferrara had been arrested in Belgium after carrying out an attempted robbery in Germany.

"The criminal Antonio Ferrara has been arrested," Retailleau wrote in a post on social media platform X in which he also praised the police for their professionalism and the Belgian authorities for their "exemplary co-operation".

Ferrara earned his nickname on account of his dramatic escape from the maximum security Fresnes jail near Paris in 2003 after his associates blew up a prison gate and sprayed guards with AK47 fire.

He had been serving time there for bank robberies, a previous prison escape in 1998, and other crimes.

In 2008, Ferrara was handed a 17-year prison sentence for his 2003 jailbreak. French newspapers Le Figaro and Le Monde reported that Ferrara had been released from jail in 2022 after serving most of that sentence.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Gareth Jones)

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