After being on the run for over 120 days, Paris attack suspect Salah Abdeslam was finally caught because of a dirty glass and a suspiciously large pizza order.
The last surviving Paris attacker – who has now been formally charged with ‘Terrorist Murder’ appears to have been hiding out in Brussels since November 14th, reports the Independent.
Earlier this week, Belgian and French police stormed a suspected safe house and were met with a hail of bullets from a militant armed with a Kalashnikov and ‘riot gun’ who was shot dead.
Two other suspects fled the scene but a search of the flat revealed Abdeslam’s fingerprints on a glass.
This convinced authorities he was still in Brussels and led police to stake-out a house just metres from the fugitive’s former home.
According to Politico, police suspected a large group was hiding out in the house after a female occupant made an unusually large pizza order.
Armed officers entered the house and found her sitting down for dinner with two friends, several children and Abdeslam.
He was shot him in the leg during the raid and a suspected accomplice – Amine Choukri – and three members of the family hiding them were also detained.
The exact role of Abdeslam in the attacks is unclear but he is suspected of helping to make explosives, hiring cars, renting hideouts and transporting jihadists.
It is thought the 26-year-old – whose brother Brahim blew himself up outside a restaurant during the attacks – was a friend of ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud and may have been radicalised after meeting him in prison.
He will now face questioning and fast-track extradition to France after being discharged from hospital with his bullet wound.
