Italian mafia boss who escaped from prison using bed sheets is recaptured in France (video)

An Italian mafia boss who escaped from a Sardinian prison using bed sheets has been recaptured in France.

Marco Raduano, who was on Europol’s list of Europe’s most wanted criminals, was arrested Thursday,  Feb. 1, 2024, in Corsica, officials in France and Italy confirmed.

He had been serving a 24-year sentence for drug trafficking and other crimes, according to Europol.

Raduano fled the high-security jail in February 2023 using knotted bed sheets to scale down the walls.
Footage from the time of his escape showed Raduano gripping sheets that were dangling against the wall before he quickly plunged to the ground and ran away.

Also apprehended was his right-hand man, Gianluigi Troiano, who fled house arrest in 2021 after detaching his electronic bracelet. He was arrested on Thursday, Feb. 1, in Granada, Spain while picking up a parcel from a service point.

“The carabinieri’s (police’s) capture abroad of two dangerous fugitives, Marco Raduano, and his right-hand man, Gianluigi Troiano, represents another major blow to organised crime,” Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said.

Raduano, 40, is said to be a boss of the Foggia crime syndicate, which is sometimes described as Italy’s fourth mafia – after the more famous organisations in Sicily, Calabria and Naples.

He was arrested on Thursday in Aleria while he was dining in a restaurant with a young woman, a source told AFP news agency.

Watch the video of his escape below.