Google Maps played key role in Mafioso’s arrest, say Italian police

Police noticed a man matching the Mafia member’s description in an image taken from Google Maps in the Spanish town of Galapagar. — Dreamstime/TNS

Google Maps played a key role in nabbing a Mafia member in Spain last month, Italian investigators revealed on Jan 5.

Police noticed a man matching the Mafia member’s description in an image taken from Google Maps in the Spanish town of Galapagar. A member of DIA, the country’s anti-Mafia police unit, told dpa that the person in question was at a fruit and vegetable stand.

The stand was near a Sicilian restaurant and after checking the restaurant’s website, investigators found a picture of a cook who matched the Mafia member’s description, according to a report in La Repubblica. That information helped confirm the person’s presence in the town near Madrid.

Investigators had spent two years following leads bringing them to the town. Spanish authorities moved in and arrested him on Dec 17.

A member of the Stidda Mafia organisation, he had been on the run for 20 years, wanted on suspicion of Mafia membership, murder and drug dealing. He had been jailed before, but escaped in 2002 during filming work in the high-security Rebibbia prison outside Rome.

The man was reportedly surprised to be tracked down in Spain. The police spokesperson told dpa that he had had no telephone contact with his family for a decade. – dpa