'Escape wizard' Albanian fugitive arrested in Spain after four jailbreaks
Spanish police have arrested an Albanian national known as the 'escape wizard' in Tarragona, who had broken out of prisons in Italy and Belgium four times since 2009. He is now awaiting extradition to Italy under a European arrest warrant.
Spain's National Police have arrested a dangerous Albanian fugitive nicknamed the "escape wizard" — known in Italian media as "mago della fuga" — in the north-eastern city of Tarragona. The man, identified by police only by the initials TT, was wanted under a European arrest warrant issued by Italian authorities.
According to Italian media reports cited by Agence France-Presse, before his most recent escape the man had been serving a sentence not due to end until 2048, for offences including violent robbery, theft and drug dealing.
Four separate jailbreaks
Police said the man first escaped from a prison in Terni, in Italy's Umbria region, in 2009. He broke out again from a prison in Parma in 2013, and later that same year escaped from a Belgian prison by using a human pyramid to climb over the wall. His most recent escape came in December 2025, when he broke out of a maximum-security prison in Milan by sawing through bars and climbing down knotted sheets from a window.
The Policía Nacional described the case as sounding "like something out of a film," calling him "the master of escapes."
Violent arrest
The fugitive was arrested in Tarragona on 21 August despite putting up strong resistance. He was accompanied by several compatriots who tried to prevent the arrest, including one man who struck and injured two police officers. That assailant remains at large, though officers recovered a Sig Sauer pistol discarded by one of the suspect's associates.
Once in custody, the man was found carrying fake identity documents, which revealed a prior criminal record in Girona for possession of weapons and explosives. He also had two €500 banknotes believed to be counterfeit, which have been sent to the Bank of Spain for examination.
The suspect was denied bail and remains in custody at a jail in Tarragona while he awaits extradition to Italy.
