In 2018, France’s most notorious gangster concocted a genius plan to escape prison, all he’d need was was guns, smoke bombs, and a helicopter

In 2018, Rédoine Faïd, was serving time in prison for his involvement in a robbery which resulted in the death of a police woman. The notorious criminal had slipped through the authorities fingers many times in the past but this time they were certain they had him. Little did they know that Faïd had been plotting yet another escape and this one would be his boldest one yet.

Rédoine Faïd had always found he got an adrenaline rush whenever he got away with crimes. From a young age he started stealing from local shops and developed into a full on career criminal. By the mid-1990s he was leading a criminal gang responsible for countless armed robberies in the Paris area.

Eventually, in 1998, he was arrested after spending three years on the run. Despite being sentenced to 30 years, he was out in ten, only to be arrested again in 2011 after he was connected to the murder of a police woman during a van robbery gone wrong. In 2013, he briefly escaped but was swiftly captured again.

Rédoine Faïd comes up with a better escape plan

In 2018, the hardened criminal had put all the necessary pieces in place to execute the perfect escape plan. Despite his cunning nature and previous escapes, the guards in his prison actually somewhat liked Faïd and he was allowed visits and luxuries any other prisoner would have access to. He was about to use these relaxed rules to his advantage.

You see, Faïd had been in contact with his accomplices, who had agreed to help him bust out of prison in the most audacious fashion.

While Faïd was in a visiting area to see his brother, his accomplices were posing as students at a flight school. Taking a flying instructor hostage at gunpoint, they forced the man to participate in their wild scheme. He flew the jailbreakers out to the prison, which had anti-aircraft netting running over the top of it. However, Faïd and his accomplices had accounted for this, intentionally choosing a helicopter small enough to slip through a small gap and get into the courtyard.

The men ordered the pilot to keep the aircraft hovering just off the ground while they dropped smoke bombs to cover them while they used angle grinders on the doors. Then they extracted Faïd from the visitors’ room, much to the surprise of his unsuspecting brother.

France showed their support

Rédoine Faïd may be a criminal but his daring escape surprisingly saw many praising him and cheering him on. French actress and model, Béatrice Dalle even wrote “God protect you Rédoine,” in an Instagram post at the time, adding, “The whole of France is with you. I am going to be dancing for hours to celebrate.”

However, his freedom didn’t last long. After three months on the loose, Faïd was once again found by police in an apartment block in his hometown as per Sky News. Due to his numerous escape attempts, he has been placed under tighter restrictions and he won’t be eligible for parole until at least 2060.