After a dramatic police chase and a shootout, special units of the Belgian Federal Police have detained a French career criminal and his accomplices on Thursday in the German-speaking city of Eupen, in Belgium’s Liège province, Belgian German-language newspaper Grenz Echo reports.
At around 07:30, gunshots and a large police operation were heard by local residents in Eupen’s Rotenberg neighbourhood. The capital of Belgium’s German-speaking community became the scene of the capture of one of France’s most notorious armed robbers, Antonio Ferrara, known as the King of Escapes (Roi de la belle), along with his gang.
After two vehicles belonging to the suspect and his gang were spotted in Germany following a failed armed robbery attempt in Germany, Belgian Federal Police were mobilised to pursue the vehicles as they attempted to reach a hideout in Eupen. The operation was also joined by a specialist anti-gang SWAT unit from Paris.
Police managed to force one of the suspects’ vehicles off the road, but another attempted to flee. Gunfire was exchanged between the occupants of the vehicle and the police, Grenz Echo reports. One police officer and one of Ferrara’s accomplices were injured.
Photos from the scene of the dramatic arrest show the windshield of one of the suspect’s vehicles riddled with bullets. French special forces gagged and blindfolded three of the suspects and took them away.
In total, 12 people were arrested in the operation, which took place in coordination with authorities from France and Belgium, according to a statement from the Public Prosecutor's Office of Brussels. Suspects were also arrested in Brussels and searches are being carried out across France and Belgium.
Local authorities told Grenz Echo they were completely blindsided by the operation, which occurred without their knowledge between Federal authorities and their international parties.
An illustrious career
Ferrera is known as one of the most infamous armed robbers in French history and is heavily involved with French organised crime. An Italian native, Ferrera has been convicted of robbery, attempted murder, and two prison breaks. He has been linked to a series of high-profile robberies against post offices and armoured money transporters but was acquitted of various charges in 2012.
In 1998 he carried out his first prison break, when he escaped from a hospital in France’s Essonne department. In 2003, he escaped from a prison in the Val-de-Marne region with the help of accomplices dressed as police officers. The gang even used rocket launchers to destroy prison walls. He was recaptured four months later. Ferrera was released from prison in Northern France in 2022.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau confirmed his arrest on X, thanking Belgian authorities for their "exemplary co-operation."
