THE Interpol issued “red signal” for the French prisoner Mohammed Amraknown by the nickname “the Fly”, at the request of the French authorities, was made known today by the International Criminal Police Organization, in a statement in X.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed in northern France today as they launched a manhunt for the fugitive gangster, a day after he escaped from a police cell during his transfer with the help of gunmen in an attack that killed two prison officers.

French Interior Minister Géral Darmanin said France had deployed unprecedented forces to arrest the gang of thugs, receiving help from, among others, foreign countries. At least 450 police officers are in the Evre region, where the attack took place.

“We have dedicated significant resources, we are making great progress,” he told RTL radio.

Across France, thousands of prison officers held demonstrations in prisons to honor the memory of their murdered colleagues.

Conservative politicians said the brazenness of the attack showed the central government had lost control over drug traffickers, comparing France to countries with a long history of endemic gang violence.

“We are on a path towards Mexicanism,” Bruno Retegio, leader of the largest center-right party in the French Senate, said during a radio interview. “Prisons are “squeegees”. “The dealers run their drug-trafficking operations from prison.”

Far-right politician Marion Marechal posted a video on X, showing herself expressing her support for prison officials outside a prison in Bordeaux.

“We have the impression that we are a third-world country,” he replied, when one of the prison officials questioned how such a violent attack took place in France.

Known by the nickname “The Fly” fugitive Mohamed Amra is a 30-year-old from northern France, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. Police sources say he is involved in the drug trade.

According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, Amra was convicted of robbery on May 10 and was charged in Marseille in a drug-trafficking case with complicity in murder and kidnapping.

Yesterday’s attack came on the day the French Senate published a report on the drug trade, which warned the country was facing a “tipping point” from rising violence.