No-fly zones put on 3 Quebec jails after helicopter escape
Inmates escaped from yard in Orsainville Detention Centre on June 7
Three Quebec detention facilities now have air exclusion zones around them to tighten up security after the second escape by helicopter in just over a year.
Yesterday, the province’s public security minister, Lise Thériault, announced the “no fly” zones over facilities in Saint-Jérome, Rivière des Prairies, and Orsainville near Quebec City — where three inmates escaped by helicopter three weeks ago.
The Orsainville Detention Centre had a temporary "no fly" zone for three days after the escape.
It's not clear how long the zones will be in place, although the one in Orsainville is expected to last at least until September.
Thériault said the latitude and the longitude of the flight exclusion zones are now public, and all pilots should know those coordinates.
She said other requests for exclusion zones are also being considered.
suspected jailbreak plan
The three inmates — Yves Denis, 35, Denis Lefebvre, 53, and Pomerleau, 49 — made their brazen escape by helicopter from the yard in Orsainville on June 7 while awaiting trial on charges of drug trafficking.
The three were also facing murder charges.
The men were classified under the tightest security measures available to the Orsainville jail authorities.
Newly released court documents confirmed that Quebec provincial police suspected the fugitives were planning an escape attempt.
- Quebec police suspected jailbreak plan, court documents show
- Quebec jailbreak: escape by helicopter was 'well-planned'
Those revelations prompted questions from Quebec Public Security Minister Lise Thériault about how seriously authorities had taken the risk of the prisoners' escape.