Casablanca: Police at Morocco’s Mohammed V international airport arrested on Monday evening a Tunisian national flagged by Interpol, following a Red notice issued by French judicial authorities, security sources said.

According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, the 47-year-old suspect was arrested shortly upon arrival on a flight from Tunisia. A check of Interpol’s database revealed that he was wanted by the National Central Bureau in Paris since 2021, with a view to enforcing a court order.

Preliminary investigation data indicates that the defendant fled from prison while serving a 30-year sentence for his involvement in a series of organized gang robberies in France, which involved the use of firearms and motor vehicles. He was also implicated in a case of drug possession and armed murder in the Netherlands.

The suspect was placed in police custody pending referral to the competent public prosecutor’s office. The National Central Bureau (Interpol Rabat), part of the Directorate General of National Security (DGSN), was responsible for notifying its French counterpart of the arrest as part of the extradition procedure.