Greek police arrested on Monday a heavily-armed fugitive, Alket Rijai, who embarrassed authorities by twice escaping from prison in a helicopter.

Rijai, a 41-year old, was sleeping when policemen stormed his hideout in a village northeast of Athens, a police official said.

"He had no time to use his machine gun, pistols or hand grenades," a police official said. Another three suspected accomplices were arrested in the same house.

Rijai, who was serving prison terms on multiple counts of murder and robbery, had last escaped the Athens high-security Korydallos prison in February with Greek accomplice Vassilis Paleokostas, who is still at large.

The two first escaped from the Athens jail by an helicopter in 2006. They were recaptured, only to escape by exactly the same method in February.

In a Hollywood-style operation, a helicopter approached the roof of the prison, threw down a rope ladder and whisked the two convicts away as prison guards watched. The helicopter pilot said he had been hijacked.


Reuters