Spanish police have arrested a dangerous Albanian criminal nicknamed the “escape wizard” who managed to break out of four jails in Italy and Belgium by sawing through bars, descending knotted sheets, and even using a human pyramid to scale prison walls.
The fugitive, whose name has not been officially released, was apprehended after officers from Spain’s National Police located him living in the northeastern city of Tarragona. He was the subject of a European arrest warrant issued by Italian authorities.
Spanish investigators identified the man by the initials TT, which correspond to Toma Taulant, an Albanian national known in Italian media as the “mago della fuga,” or “escape wizard.”
Before escaping from a maximum‑security prison in Milan eight months ago, he was serving a sentence scheduled to end in 2048 for offenses including violent robbery, theft, and drug trafficking, according to Italian media reports cited by Agence France‑Presse.
“It sounds like something out of a film, but sometimes reality is stranger than fiction,” the Policía Nacional said in a statement describing him as “the master of escapes.”
“He escaped from a jail in [the Umbrian city of] Terni in 2009, from a prison in Parma in 2013, and from a Belgian prison the same year after using a human pyramid to climb over the wall,” the police added. “His most recent escape, in December 2025, occurred after he broke out of a maximum‑security prison in Italy by sawing through the bars and descending the window on knotted sheets.”
According to the statement, the “very dangerous” fugitive was arrested in Tarragona last Friday, offering strong and active resistance as officers moved in.
“The man was accompanied by several compatriots who tried to prevent his arrest, including one individual who struck and injured two officers,” the force said. Police are still seeking the assailant but have recovered a Sig Sauer pistol discarded by one of the suspect’s associates.
Once in custody, the man was found to be in possession of false identity documents, which revealed a criminal record in the Catalan city of Girona for weapons and explosives possession. He also carried two €500 banknotes believed to be counterfeit; these have been forwarded to the Bank of Spain for investigation.
The suspect was denied bail and has been remanded to a jail in Tarragona while awaiting extradition to Italy.
