 Top French gangster in spectacular jailbreak 
 
 By Marine Laouchez (AFP) – Apr 14, 2013 
 
 SEQUEDIN, France — One of France's most dangerous gangsters, known for brazen attacks on cash-in-transit vehicles, blasted his way out of jail after briefly taking several wardens hostage, officials said. Redoine Faid, who risked a heavy sentence over the 2010 death of a policewoman, used explosives Saturday to blast through five prison doors and break free in the northern town of Sequedin. Hide Caption 7 of 7 
 
 French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira told reporters on Saturday that a European arrest warrant covering 26 countries had been issued and that Interpol had been called in. State Prosecutor Frederic Fevre said Faid, who had already been France's most wanted a few years ago, was a "particularly dangerous prisoner" and was still armed and in possession of explosives. He thought big -- getting inspiration from the movies. Faid, nicknamed "The writer", landed back in prison in 2011 for failing to comply with his parole conditions and was due to serve the remaining eight years of his original sentence. "I wasn't surprised when I heard about his escape although there were no signs that anything was in the works," his lawyer Jean-Louis Pelletier told AFP.
– A French gangster inspired by movies like Scarface and Heat broke out of prison yesterday and sparked a manhunt across Europe, CNN reports. Redoine Faid, 40, briefly held four guards hostage and blew up several prison doors before fleeing in a getaway car. He later set fire to his car and left two hostages standing on a highway, reports AFP. His current whereabouts: unknown. "He is remarkably intelligent, and he is using his intellect to serve his ambitions," said Faid's lawyer. "He cannot stand being imprisoned anymore." Faid spent 10 years in prison for robbery before he achieved celebrity in 2010 with his autobiography, Robber: From Suburbs to Organized Crime. But he was back behind bars a year later, suspected of organizing an armored-car robbery that left a policewoman dead in a shootout. Now an estimated 150 French police are after him, Interpol is involved, and warrants have been issued in 26 countries. Authorities say Faid's wife visited him yesterday and may have smuggled explosives into the prison—a claim her lawyer vigorously denies.