A plan built over months, studied in the smallest details that required, in addition to equipment, a strict dietary regimen, made Taulant Toma's escape from prison in Italy possible.
Taulant Toma, the 41-year-old Albanian, an expert in extreme escapes, who escaped from the Opera prison at dawn on Sunday, had also lost weight to fit through a few centimeters of hole, created by sawing the bars. With a slender body, 1 meter and 65 centimeters tall, the convict has weakened even further to carry out his fourth escape, a weakening that did not work for his cellmate, who finally gave up.
For two days now, Toma, also known by the pseudonym Admir Dedinca, has been the most wanted man in Italy. "Very high surveillance, risk of escape, see DAP note," his descriptive file states, which also highlights his transfer from Sassari precisely for security reasons.
The prefecture has activated a coordination to find him: checkpoints have been set up as there is a fear that he could escape abroad, relying on his extensive network of contacts and reuniting with other criminal groups of the Albanian mafia. According to the investigations, immediately after his escape he may have received help from abroad.
Security cameras filmed him leaving on foot at around 6:30 a.m.; a few hours later, in a rest area on the ring road, an abandoned van was found, where it is possible he met an accomplice. It is the final act of a well-crafted project. In the work areas for the convicts, he had secured a saw, a file, pliers, metal parts and some wrenches to create an opening between the bars; he had gathered sheets, which he had rolled up to descend from the third floor, at a height of over fifteen meters.
To overcome the six-meter perimeter wall, he had used broomsticks tied with adhesive tape, adding a hook to the end that he had fixed to the edge of the wall.
The alarm was not raised and the search only began around 8 a.m., when agents noticed his bed was empty. The date of the escape was also carefully chosen: a holiday, when staff is reduced.
The same method he used to escape from Parma prison in February 2013: a small saw and diamond wire to cut through the bars, weeks of observation from the cell window to study the movements of the guards and the changing of shifts. In 2009, he had already escaped from Terni prison during a football match; in December 2013, to leave Lantin near Liège, he had organized a structured operation.
A gray Opel was parked in front of the entrance reserved for suppliers and, when an agent approached to remove it, three men jumped on it, taking it hostage. Inside, in the courtyard, some convicts broke a glass container to create a distraction; others formed a human pyramid that allowed Toma to climb and overcome the wall with an acrobatic jump. The Albanian must serve a total of 24 years in prison for robbery in villas, theft, possession of drugs and weapons; he would not be released from the Opera before 2048. This is his fourth escape.
"Felice Maniero, the boss of "Mala del Brenta" nicknamed "angel-face", who in the 90s had carried out sensational escapes from prison, has already been surpassed", this is the bitter comment of Leo Beneduciti, secretary general of OSAPP, who denounces the lack of personnel with "inadequate distribution of contingents in the Opera 30 percent less than needed for a prisoner population 25 percent above the permitted capacity".
According to Beneducit, "the system no longer has secure institutions located in environments suitable for specific types of serving sentences."
Toma "has managed to turn a high-security prison into a springboard to freedom."
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