The criminal Antonio Ferrara, who has French and Italian citizenship, was arrested last night in the Belgian city of Eupen for allegedly planning a robbery in Germany. A police officer was injured during the arrest of Ferrara, who is known for having managed to escape from prison twice, the Belgian news agency Belga reported, quoted by BTA.
The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed the arrest. According to French media, three Belgians and four Frenchmen were arrested along with Ferrara. The group is alleged to have planned to rob a vault in Germany, where a number of banks keep their money.
According to several media outlets, the eight suspects were arrested this morning in the southeastern Belgian city of Eupen. Belgian police did not provide any details about the operation, but confirmed that a police officer was slightly injured during the operation.
The injured officer is from the Belgian federal police special forces. He was hit by the suspects' car and taken to hospital. The officer has since been discharged.
Ferrara is known as the "king of escapes" because he has twice managed to escape from prison. He was released from a prison in northern France in July 2022 after serving his sentence.
Born on October 12, 1973 in southern Italy, he has previous convictions for robbery and attempted murder, as well as for his two escapes.
Ferrara first escaped from a prison near Paris in 1998. He carried out his escape while being transferred to hospital and remained at large until 2002. remained at large.
On March 12, 2003, he escaped from a prison in northern France with the help of accomplices disguised as police officers who attacked the prison with grenade launchers. Ferrara was recaptured four months later.