Taulant Toma arrested in Tarragona: four escapes, now extradition to Italy
The 42-year-old Albanian, who escaped from Opera prison on 7 December 2025, was captured by Spanish police in Catalonia after months on the run.
The "escape artist" caught in Tarragona after fourth breakout
Four prisons, four film-like escapes — one in Belgium and three in Italy — then the trap in Spain. The run of Taulant Toma, 42, an Albanian and one of Italy's most wanted fugitives, ended on Sunday in Tarragona, Catalonia, where Spanish national police arrested him. ANSA Cronaca reports.
Toma had escaped on 7 December 2025 from the maximum-security wing of Opera prison in the Milan area, sawing through cell bars and lowering himself over the perimeter fence with knotted sheets. Europol had circulated an arrest warrant with his description: close-cropped hair, 1.8 metres tall, sturdy build, tattoos and a deep scar on his face.
Stopped in a Golf with four compatriots
After his escape he moved to Tarragona, settling in the Campclar neighbourhood, a high-density crime area, under an assumed name and — according to investigators — protected by an Albanian mafia network involved in drug trafficking. Agents from the Udef, the Spanish police's Economic and Financial Crime Group, intercepted him while travelling in a Volkswagen Golf with four compatriots.
At the time of arrest, Toma attempted to conceal his identity by presenting false documents registered to another Albanian with a criminal record in Girona for weapons and explosives possession. It was not enough. "He was our target, we recognised him and stopped him, and a crowd began to gather around," the head inspector of the Tarragona Udef, who coordinated the operation, told ANSA.
Toma resisted. Some accomplices fled; one of them allegedly attempted to prevent the arrest by striking two officers, then disappeared after discarding a weapon, which was subsequently recovered by Catalan police. Toma is now held in Mas d'Enric prison in Tarragona, awaiting extradition to Italy, under close supervision. Investigators are looking into the network of compatriots who may have aided his fugitive status. He had also begun a relationship with a Spanish citizen of Arab origin, 35, who was apparently completely unaware of his true identity.
A career of escapes beginning in Terni in 2009
The legend of the "escape artist" begins on 9 October 2009, when Toma is 25 years old and detained in Terni prison for aggravated robbery. During a football match in the yard, he exploits a gap in the netting and, using knotted sheets, scales the perimeter wall. His time on the run lasts 74 days and ends at a residence in Casarile, in the Pavia province, where he is captured together with his cousin Erjis Kuni, believed to be his accomplice.
The script repeats itself on 2 February 2013 in Parma prison. Toma escapes again, this time with compatriot Valentin Frokkaj: the two saw through the cell bars, knot the sheets and lower themselves over the perimeter fence. The escape reignites controversy over the security of penal institutions and staffing shortages among guards, as well as an internal inquiry.
Captured in Belgium months later, he ends up in Lantin prison near Liège. But on 14 December 2013 comes the third escape, the most dramatic: according to reports at the time, some detainees form a human pyramid that allows him to scale the prison wall. A car with accomplices is waiting outside.
The fourth escape, from Opera in December 2025, follows the same pattern as the previous ones: sawed bars, knotted sheets, cover of darkness. For the "escape artist" the cell at Mas d'Enric has closed. Extradition procedures to Italy are underway.
Source: ANSA Cronaca