3 'Helicopter Escapees' Arrested in Luxury Condo

Quebec plans probe into weird jailbreak
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 22, 2014 2:25 PM CDT
3 'Helicopter Escapees' Arrested in Luxury Condo
This photo shows an apartment where three prison escapees were captured in Montreal, Sunday, June 22, 2014. The three men escaped from a Quebec City-area prison by helicopter on June 7.    (Graham Hughes)

Three men who escaped by helicopter from a Quebec City-area prison two weeks ago were captured early today at a Montreal residence, Quebec provincial police said. The fugitives were arrested by police investigators, accompanied by SWAT team members, around 1:30am at a "luxury condo in Old Montreal," reports the Montreal Gazette. Quebec police Sgt. Audrey-Anne Bilodeau said further arrests in the case are likely as the investigation into the June 7 escape continues. "It could be a person who helped them escape from prison or a person who helped them hide from us," Bilodeau said.

Police did not divulge further details about how they finally found the fugitives—Yves Denis, 35, Denis Lefebvre, 53, and Serge Pomerleau, 49. They are due in court in Quebec City tomorrow. The three men were originally arrested as part of Operation Crayfish in 2010, which dismantled a network of drug traffickers, and were awaiting trial when a helicopter plucked them from a detention-center courtyard in Quebec City, triggering an international manhunt. Interpol placed them on its list of the world's most wanted fugitives. Shortly after the daring breakout it was revealed that a judge had granted the three inmates looser restrictions the day before they escaped; an official said she doesn't know why the judge agreed to the request. Now the Quebec government has ordered an internal investigation into the jailbreak and yet another high-flying breakout that occurred in March. (More helicopter stories.)

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