( CNN ) -- The brazen escape of a notorious gangster in France may be due partly to a problem plaguing the prison that could n't hold him : overcrowding . There is a clear `` overpopulation problem in the Sequedin prison and this hinders the job of guarding prisoners , '' a spokesman for the French Ministry of Justice told CNN on Sunday , commenting on the escape of Redoine Faid . Faid allegedly held five people , including four guards , at gunpoint at the detention center in the northern city of Lille on Saturday , officials said . He burst his way to freedom by allegedly detonating explosives that destroyed five doors , penitentiary union spokesman Etienne Dobrometz told CNN affiliate BFMTV . His whereabouts are unknown . French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira told reporters on Saturday that a European arrest warrant covering 26 countries had been issued and that Interpol had been called in . An Interpol spokesman told CNN no public notice had been issued on Faid . Interpol can also issue `` restricted '' notices that are not public . The spokesman did not say whether one had been issued in this case . Police detained a brother of Faid for questioning only , according to a law enforcement source , who did not provide other details about that development . The source spoke on the condition of not being identified because the person is not permitted to discuss the matter publicly . The source also estimated that up to 150 French police are working on the case . Faid 's prison escape raises a number of questions : How did an inmate get guns and explosives ? How did he manage to use those to force his way out ? And , after all that , why is he still at large ? The four guards who Faid allegedly held hostage `` are safe and sound , '' said Lille prosecutor Frederic Fevre . Still , officials from the prison guards ' union pressed Taubira to provide better safety measures inside prisons , including more thorough searches of those who enter , BFMTV reported . Built in 2005 , the Lille-Sequedin penitentiary is not old , but it 's not well designed to keep watch of prisoners , said Jimmy Delliste , a former associate director there . `` The construction ... makes it particularly difficult to manage detainees , who are particularly difficult to watch , '' Delliste told BFMTV . Modern-day gangster . Faid fashioned himself as a modern-day gangster . He thought big -- getting inspiration from the movies . He wore a hockey mask , like Robert DeNiro 's character in `` Heat , '' and acted audaciously in attacking armored trucks among other targets . After more than a decade in prison , though , the Frenchman insisted he 'd changed . This promise did n't last long , according to French authorities . A year after his autobiography was published , Faid , who was free at the time , landed back behind bars in 2011 . One person not surprised by Faid 's breakout is his lawyer , Jean-Louis Pelletier . Pelletier had planned to meet his client soon in preparation for an upcoming trial tied to a May 2010 attack in Villiers-sur-Marne , east of Paris , that left a 26-year-old policewoman dead . `` He is remarkably intelligent , and he is using his intellect to serve his ambitions , '' Pelletier told BFMTV . `` ( And Faid ) can not stand being imprisoned anymore . '' In his autobiography , `` Robber : From Suburbs to Organized Crime , '' Faid chronicled his progression from a petty thief to one of France 's most notorious criminals , according to the book 's publisher , La Manufacture De Livres . In 1998 , after three years on the run during which he fled to Switzerland , Faid was caught . Sentenced to 20 years , he ended up spending more than a decade in high-security prisons around France . After being released , Faid put himself out there -- not only with his book , but also as the subject of numerous interviews . The high-adrenaline life of crime he described resembled that of another famous French gangster , Jacques Mesrine . The country 's most-wanted man in the 1970s , Mesrine made his name as a charismatic , press-courting criminal known for his daring bank heists and spectacular prison breaks . Mesrine 's story ended in 1979 , when he was gunned down by police on the streets of Paris .
French prison officials say there is a clear prison ` ` overpopulation . '' Redoine Faid was a wanted criminal in the ' 90s known for stealing armored trucks . Faid held guards at gunpoint and used explosives to burst through a prison 's doors . Law enforcement in France and elsewhere in Europe are now searching for him .