Italian police have arrested a high-profile mafia who has been a fugitive for nearly 20 years. This arrest was successfully achieved thanks to the help of the online map service Google Maps.
After two years of investigation, it was discovered that the mafia named Gioacchino Gamino, 61, was found in the city of Galapagar, Spain.
He opened a fruit shop under the name El Huerto de Manu-Manu's Garden. Since moving to Spain, Gamino has changed his name to Manuel.
In the image on Google Maps in the Street View feature, Gamino's figure is seen outside his shop and this is the key for the police to investigate further. Investigators were also able to identify him by his trademark scars.
"The photogram helped us confirm the investigation we developed in the traditional way," said Nicola Altiero, deputy director of the Italian anti-mafia police unit (DIA).
Gamino, a member of the Sicilian mafia group nicknamed Stidda, had escaped from Rome's Rebibbia prison in 2002 and in 2003 had been sentenced to life in prison for murders committed years earlier.
Altiero said Gamino is currently being held in Spain and they hope to bring him back to Italy by the end of February 2022.
