Spain arrests 'Master of Escapes' after fourth breakout

Spanish police arrested a fugitive dubbed the “Master of Escapes” in Tarragona after four prison breakouts, including a December escape from a maximum-security prison in Milan.

Spain's National Police said the man was wanted by Italy under a European arrest warrant and escaped in December by sawing through window bars and lowering himself with knotted bedsheets. Police said he had previously escaped from prisons in Terni and Parma in Italy and from a Belgian prison, where he used a human pyramid to scale the walls.

Police identified him only by the initials T.T., which correspond to those of Toma Taulant, an Albanian national described in Italian media as a “mago della fuga”, or “escape wizard”. Italian media reported that Taulant was serving a prison sentence due to expire in 2048 for offences including violent robbery, theft and drug dealing.

Spanish authorities said he resisted arrest and that several people with him tried to intervene, with one allegedly injuring two officers. Police said the fugitive was carrying false identification documents and two 500-euro notes suspected of being counterfeit.

A judge ordered him held in provisional custody without bail pending extradition proceedings to Italy.