‘Escape wizard’ who broke out of four jails is arrested in Spain

Police in Spain have arrested a dangerous Albanian criminal nicknamed the “escape wizard” who has managed to break out of four jails in Italy and Belgium, according to the Guardian. The fugitive, identified by the paper as Toma Taulant, was captured after a police operation, ending a string of prison breaks that had made him a notorious figure in European law-enforcement circles.

The Guardian reported that Taulant’s escapes involved a remarkable range of methods, including sawing through bars, climbing down knotted sheets, and even using a human pyramid of fellow inmates to scale prison walls. His ability to repeatedly evade high-security detention had earned him the nickname among police and prison authorities.

The arrest in Spain closes a chapter that had embarrassed prison administrations in two EU member states and raised questions about the security of detention facilities in Italy, where Taulant had staged several of his escapes.