A Snapchat trail may have helped federal agents close in on a South Florida man long wanted in a 2018 cocaine case, and prosecutors have now charged him with fleeing the country to avoid prison. Roy Attia, who pleaded guilty in Miami-Dade in 2018 and then disappeared, is accused of traveling to France to dodge a 30-year state sentence that was handed down in absentia.
According to court documents obtained by Local 10 News, Attia pleaded guilty to a cocaine-trafficking charge on Aug. 24, 2018, and boarded Air France Flight 99 from Miami to Paris on Aug. 25. The complaint says he was arrested in an undercover North Miami Beach sting on July 17, 2018, after buying more than a kilogram of cocaine for $25,000, and that a Miami-Dade judge later sentenced him in absentia to 30 years on Sept. 21, 2018. North Miami Beach police worked with Interpol to issue a Red Notice in December 2021, the filing says, and federal agents have now lodged a criminal complaint alleging unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
How INTERPOL Red Notices Work
As explained by INTERPOL, a Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or surrender, although it is not itself an international arrest warrant. The notices are a common tool for cross-border coordination when suspects are believed to have fled abroad.
Tip, Sealed Filings And Unanswered Questions
Local authorities say the case moved forward after someone who knows Attia sent a tip in late January saying he had been posting to Snapchat from France, and FBI agents told investigators they corroborated that lead. Court records reviewed by Local 10 News show a second entry in Attia’s federal file is listed as restricted or sealed, and an FBI spokesperson declined to comment on his whereabouts. It remains unclear whether French authorities have detained him or whether formal extradition steps have begun.
Federal Charge Explained
The federal count alleged in the complaint is unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, the statute codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1073, as published by Cornell, which criminalizes moving or traveling in interstate or foreign commerce with intent to avoid prosecution for certain felonies. That law allows federal prosecutors to bring a case in the district where the original offense occurred and can carry prison time and fines if the government prevails.
For Miami readers, the development is a reminder that tips and international cooperation can revive long-running investigations and that cross-border tools matter when suspects leave the country. Prosecutors and local police will likely work through international channels as the case unfolds, and Red Notices and mutual legal-assistance mechanisms are typical parts of that process, according to INTERPOL.
