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Villepinte Prison Escapee Ilyas Kherbouch Arrested in Southern France After 13 Days on the Run

He awaits a detention hearing in Perpignan ahead of his transfer to Paris.

Overview

  • The 21-year-old, known as "Ganito," was captured without incident on March 20 at the Malibu Village complex in Canet-en-Roussillon by BRI units from Pyrénées-Orientales and Hérault with support from the national fugitive squad (BNRF).
  • A woman arrested alongside him was reported by TF1/LCI and France Télévisions to be a former Villepinte prison officer removed from duty in 2025.
  • He escaped the Villepinte remand prison on March 7 after accomplices posing as police presented forged judicial papers, with his absence noticed only 48 hours later.
  • He has been placed in retenue judiciaire in Perpignan and is to appear before a judge of liberties and detention prior to transfer to Paris, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
  • A judicial inquiry for organized escape is underway in Paris, two suspects (including a minor) have already been placed under formal investigation, and the probe is examining forged documents and possible corruption; Kherbouch also holds a lengthy criminal record and was sentenced in absentia on March 12 to six years in prison.