(UnitedVoice.com) – It used to be that a fugitive could run from the law and not worry about big tech ruining their plans. Those days are gone. In this day and age, you never know who might be watching — and a wanted mafia member just found that out the hard way.
In 1998, mobster Gioacchino Gammino, a member of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra’s Stidda family, was convicted of murder and sent to Rome, Italy’s Rebibbia prison. Four years later, he managed to escape. Law enforcement spent almost 20 years looking for him before they caught a break from an unlikely source.
On January 5, investigators told reporters they’d finally caught the fugitive. When officers arrested him, the 61-year-old wanted to know how police caught him. Did someone rat him out? Did he do something that led authorities to him? Officers told him he did; the fugitive had made the mistake of standing outside of a Galapagar, Spain, grocery store in 2018 just as a Google Street View vehicle drove past him.
A very committed detective combed through photos online until he found the grainy image of the criminal.
An Italian mafia boss was caught after 20 years on the run after being spotted in Spain on Google Street View.
Convicted murderer Gioacchino Gammino was one of Italy’s most wanted people after escaping prison while a film was being made, and had been working in Spain as a chef. pic.twitter.com/xsajAj9bVg
— AJ+ (@ajplus) January 6, 2022
Imagine running from cops for two decades only to be thwarted by an ugly little car with a giant camera on top of it. It makes one wonder if the man even paid attention to what was going on around him. It’s almost like standing outside and shooting the breeze while wanted by the police is a bad idea. Who woulda thunkit?
Gammino is facing extradition to Italy where he’ll continue to serve his life sentence.
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