Albanian "Escape Magician" Arrested in Tarragona after Four Prison Breaks in Italy and Belgium
An Albanian citizen who escaped from four prisons has been arrested in Spain. Police identified him by the initials TT, known in Italy as the "mago della fuga".
Albanian who escaped from four penitentiaries detained in Tarragona
Spanish police arrested last Friday an extremely dangerous Albanian citizen, nicknamed the "escape magician", after he was hiding in the city of Tarragona in north-eastern Spain, according to Google News RO — Crime (ro) based on information published by The Guardian and AFP.
The man, identified by the initials TT — corresponding to the name Toma Taulant — was subject to an international manhunt through a European arrest warrant issued by Italian authorities. The Italian press knows him as "mago della fuga".
Before his latest escape, Taulant was serving a sentence with a scheduled release date of 2048, for armed robbery, theft and drug trafficking. In December 2025, he fled from a maximum security prison in Milan by cutting the bars and descending from a window with the help of knotted bedsheets.
The man's previous escapes span more than a decade. Spanish police detailed in their statement: in 2009 he escaped from a penitentiary in Terni (Umbria), in 2013 from a prison in Parma, and in the same year from a Belgian penitentiary, where he used a human pyramid to scale the exterior wall.
"It seems like something from a film, but sometimes reality exceeds fiction," the Policía Nacional transmitted, describing the fugitive as the "master of escapes".
At the time of arrest, Taulant put up "strong and active resistance". Several compatriots accompanying him attempted to prevent police intervention, and one of them struck and injured two officers. The aggressor is still being sought. A Sig Sauer pistol abandoned by one of the suspect's associates was recovered from the scene.
False identity documents were found on him. Subsequent checks showed that Taulant had a record in the Catalan city of Girona for possession of weapons and explosives. Additionally, two 500-euro banknotes suspected of being counterfeit were seized from him and sent to the Bank of Spain for analysis.
His request for release on bail was rejected. The man is currently in a penitentiary in Tarragona, where he will remain until his extradition to Italy.
Source: Google News RO — Crime (ro)