French authorities have formally charged and jailed Albinou Da Sylva, an alleged accomplice of escaped drug trafficker Mohamed Amra, following his extradition from Morocco.
Da Sylva, 38, was indicted on Wednesday in Paris on multiple counts, including participation in a criminal conspiracy, murder, attempted murder in an organized gang, and facilitating a prison escape, according to his lawyers.
He was arrested in February in Morocco alongside a second suspect, Alan Gomes, just one day after Amra was captured in Romania following nine months on the run. Both men were subject to international arrest warrants.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin confirmed the extraditions on social media, thanking Moroccan authorities for their cooperation. “The two accomplices of Amra, whose cowardly escape cost the lives of two prison officers, have been extradited,” he wrote on X. “They will be swiftly brought before a judge and held accountable.”
Da Sylva has denied involvement in the deadly ambush that enabled Amra’s escape in May 2024 and is reserving further statements for the ongoing judicial investigation, his legal team said.
Authorities have yet to release details regarding Alan Gomes, 28, who was also extradited and subject to a red notice from Interpol. Both men are from Évreux, the hometown and operational base of Mohamed Amra.
At least 41 people have been indicted in connection with the violent escape, with 30 currently in pre-trial detention. The investigation has drawn on substantial national and international resources.
“La Mouche” and the Deadly Escape
Nicknamed “La Mouche” (“The Fly”), Amra escaped on May 14, 2024, during a heavily armed ambush on a prison convoy at a highway toll booth in Incarville, Eure. Two prison guards were killed, and three others seriously wounded.
After the attack, Da Sylva and Gomes reportedly fled to Morocco. Investigators suspect Gomes is a high-ranking member of the Black Manjak Family (BMF), a Normandy-based drug trafficking network. He allegedly had ties to the French rapper Koba LaD, who is under investigation for potentially financing Amra’s escape.
Police say Da Sylva and Gomes co-managed a hookah bar in Évreux that served as a meeting point for the BMF. Raids on their homes uncovered firearms, cash, mobile phones, and ammunition.
High-Security Transfer and Political Fallout
Amra, originally held at Condé-sur-Sarthe prison, was transferred on July 24 to the ultra-secure Vendin-le-Vieil facility in northern France. He now joins about 30 of the country’s most dangerous inmates.
Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti is currently facing a legal complaint over the selection criteria for transferring high-risk narcotics offenders to Vendin-le-Vieil. The complaint has been filed with the Court of Justice of the Republic, the only body authorized to try French ministers for actions taken in office.
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