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Quebec Police Capture 3 Inmates Who Escaped Using Helicopter

After a little more than two weeks on the lam, the three prisoners who escaped from a Quebec prison are back in custody, the Sûreté du Québec said in a tweet.

CTV News reports the three men, charged with murder and drug trafficking, were captured at a luxury condo in Montreal. The network reports:

"Serge Pomerleau, Denis Lefebvre and Yves Denis were arrested in an early-morning raid by SWAT teams at a Montreal condo at around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, CTV News has learned. No shots were fired during the arrests.

"Police are still looking for at least one other suspect who was likely an accomplice in the prison break.

" 'It could be a person who helped them escape from prison or person who helped them hide from us,' said Sgt. Audrey-Anne Bilodeau. 'The investigation continues.' "

As we've reported, this was the second helicopter jail break in recent memory. Previously, in March of 2013, a helicopter swooped in and airlifted two convicts from a Montreal prison.

The CBC reports that after the second escape on June 7, three facilities instituted a no-fly zone. The network adds:

"The facilities are in Saint-Jérome, Rivière des Prairies, and Orsainville.

"It is unclear how long these measures will be in place.

"Orsainville had a temporary 'no-fly' zone for three days after the escape."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.