Spain Arrests Fugitive "Escape Master" After Manhunt

Spanish authorities have arrested a fugitive known as the "escape master" in the city of Tarragona, ending a months-long manhunt for a man who had broken out of four prisons across Italy and Belgium. The arrest, carried out by Spain's National Police, was in response to a European arrest warrant issued by Italian authorities. Following his capture, a judge ordered the man to be held in provisional custody without bail while extradition proceedings to Italy are processed.

The fugitive, identified in some reports as Taulant Toma, a 42-year-old Albanian national, had been on the run since his most recent escape in December 2025. Police tracked him to a neighborhood in Tarragona where they believed he was living. When officers moved in to apprehend him, he resisted, and several individuals with him attempted to intervene. During the incident, one person allegedly injured two officers. At the time of his capture, the man was carrying false identity documents and two 500-euro notes suspected of being counterfeit.

The man's criminal record is defined by a series of elaborate prison breaks. His first escape occurred in October 2009 from a prison in Terni, Italy, where he slipped through...