Italian mafia boss arrested in Spain with help of Google Maps

Gioacchino Gammino had spent nearly 20 years on the run after escaping from prison

Gioacchino Gammino (R) has been arrested in Spain with help of Google Maps. Photo: Google

An Italian mafia boss and convicted murderer has been arrested in Spain with the help of Google Maps after spending nearly two decades on the run.

Gioacchino Gammino, 61, was caught in Galapagar, a town near Madrid, where he had been living under the name Manuel and was married.

Sicilian police had been searching him for years and had traced him to Spain. But it was a Google Maps street view picture of a man resembling Gammino, standing in front of a fruit shop, that helped investigators hone in on his exact location.

Police then discovered a photo of the mafia boss on the Facebook page of a nearby restaurant, where he appeared to be working as a chef. A scar on the left side of his chin helped the authorities determine that the man was Gammino.

As he was arrested, Gammino reportedly told police: “How did you find me? I haven’t even called my family for 10 years!”

He had escaped Rome's Rebibbia prison in 2002 and in 2003 had been sentenced to life imprisonment for a murder committed several years earlier.

Gammino was arrested on December 17, but the development only recently came to light.

Nicola Altiero, deputy director of the Italian anti-mafia police unit, said Gammino is currently under custody in Spain and they hope to bring him back to Italy by the end of February.

“The photograph helped us to confirm the investigation we were developing in traditional ways,” she told Reuters.