Farid Toloun, a former robber from Lyon sentenced to 24 years in prison for intentional homicide, has just joined Europol's "Most Wanted" list, the most wanted criminals in Europe.
This 49-year-old man, born in Vaulx-en-Velin in the suburbs of Lyon, was in the 1990s "
one of the leaders of a criminal organization whose particularly determined and violent members carried out a series of armed robberies in the Lyon region
”, explains the European police agency in the research file distributed since September 28.
Read alsoLoire: 4 suspected robbers of a jewelry store imprisoned
The robber, "
like many at the turn of the 2000s, converted to drug trafficking
", adds Commissioner Guillaume Lacassin, the head of the fugitive search brigade (BNRF) in France, to AFP.
“
He is one of our biggest fugitives
,” adds the commissioner.
The police do not know if he is in France or abroad.
Already sentenced in 1998 to eight years in prison for armed robberies, he was sentenced in 2012 to 24 years in prison for intentional homicide.
The facts that earned him this last conviction date from June 10, 2005. That night, “
with the assistance of three accomplices, he watched two criminals belonging to a rival team
”, details Europol.
“
After several hours of surveillance, and riding a motorcycle, they followed their target” and “fired on the vehicle occupied by their rivals
”.
The driver died and the passenger was "
seriously injured
".
Read alsoMass surveillance: Europol, future European NSA?
Farid Tolun, who bears a “
scar on his forehead and a scar on his right cheek
”, “
is a particularly dangerous individual.
He did not hesitate to fire on the police on several occasions to encourage his escape, in France and abroad
, ”specifies Europol.
Since the launch of the "
Most Wanted
" campaign in 2016, 120 people have been arrested, including "
43 directly
" thanks to elements from the campaign, according to Mr. Lacassin, who cites in particular the case of Frenchman François di Pasquali, wanted for rape and arrested in 2021 in Spain, three months after being included in the Europol list.