Wanted throughout Europe and considered one of the most skilled prison escapees, Taulant Toma, 41, is once again a free man.
At least for now. At dawn on Sunday, December 7, he managed to escape from the maximum security prison in Milan's Opera district, staging an escape as artisanal as it was reckless, the result of preparation, cunning, and—according to investigative sources—even a targeted diet to fit through the sawn-off bars of his cell.
An Albanian citizen with convictions for theft, robbery, weapons, and drug charges, Toma was serving a long prison sentence with a final sentence of 2048. He was incarcerated on the third floor of the first ward of the Milan prison, where he had been transferred in 2023 from the Sassari prison. He was placed under "maximum surveillance" due to his numerous previous prison escapes. Despite this, he managed to evade checks, cameras, and security systems.
The escape: sawn-off bars, sheets, and broom handles
The images sent to investigators – and also seen by the press – detail the tools used for the escape: sawn-off bars, assembled broom handles, sheets knotted into a rope.
According to the reconstruction, Toma allegedly found a file in the prison's work area and, patiently, sawed through the bars of his cell window in the days before his escape.
Once the breach was opened, the inmate would lower himself out using a makeshift rope made from sheets he had collected over time, taking advantage of the darkness and the critical moment when the prison police officers were changing shifts.
The next step is the most dramatic: the broom handles, joined with adhesive tape, are transformed into a sort of telescopic pole with a hook at the end, used to harpoon the perimeter wall and climb over it.
The photos in the investigators' possession clearly show the poles bolted together and the bars cut from the window. These elements confirm methodical preparation and the absence of improvisation. According to what emerged, his cellmate was also supposed to escape with him, but at the last minute he abandoned the plan, remaining inside the prison.
The security hole and the external intelligence hypothesis
Despite increased security and the inmate's being flagged as a high-risk escapee, Toma managed to slip away without immediately raising the alarm. The escape apparently took advantage of a combination of favorable factors: the early morning darkness, staff shift changes, and potential "blind spots" in the perimeter control system.
Investigators do not rule out the possibility that the 41-year-old may have had outside support, a supporter ready to provide him with logistical support—a car, clean clothes, false documents—just minutes after he entered Opera. Once outside, the man may have quickly taken escape routes toward the Milanese hinterland, aiming to leave the area as quickly as possible.
Currently, the Prefecture has activated a wide-ranging search plan: checkpoints, increased security at train stations, airports, and highway toll booths, and patrols throughout the area. Law enforcement is combing security cameras and public and private video surveillance systems to reconstruct the fugitive's movements in the "dark window" following his escape.
Four escapes in 16 years: the resume of the "escape wizard"
The escape from Opera is only the latest in a long series of escapes that have built Taulant Toma's reputation as an "escape specialist".
In 2009, Toma escaped from Terni prison for the first time. He was later tracked down, arrested, and returned to his cell.
On February 2, 2013, he escaped from Parma prison along with a compatriot, Frokaj Vamentin. Vamentin was later killed by a jeweler during a robbery, an episode that marked one of the most dramatic chapters in their criminal careers.
After forty days of searches in Italy and abroad, the Parma Prosecutor's Office was informed that Toma had been arrested in Belgium, where he is awaiting extradition.
In December 2013, another sensational escape took place from Belgium: some inmates formed a pyramid to facilitate his escape, while the officers were distracted by a loud bang. Toma managed to disappear once again, only to be captured again in 2015.
A record that places him among the most problematic inmates in the European prison system, so much so that the level of scrutiny increases every time he is transferred from one institution to another.
The new manhunt and the fear of a reunion with criminal clans
Today, the 41-year-old is wanted throughout Italy, with a very high alert level. Investigators fear he could quickly flee the country, leveraging old criminal contacts abroad and a support network he's already used in previous escapes. The real risk is that Toma could rejoin organized groups engaged in robberies, drug trafficking, or attacks on sensitive targets.
Law enforcement is collaborating with Europol and authorities in several EU countries, also in light of his past in Belgium. The goal is to prevent his escape from Opera from turning into yet another long-term fugitive and, above all, to prevent the "prison escape wizard" from reorganizing within transnational criminal networks.
As the manhunt continues, the question of responsibility inevitably arises on the internal front. How was it possible that a prisoner at extremely high risk of escape managed to breach the system once again? How much did the chronic staff shortage, the structural conditions of the institutions, and the blind spots of a system that, despite cameras and high security, continues to display glaring flaws play a role?
These questions are being addressed directly to the highest levels of the prison administration and the Ministry of Justice, while outside the walls of Opera the priority remains one: finding, as quickly as possible, Taulant Toma, the man who made prison escape his trademark.
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Comments (1)
It's incredible how someone with such a criminal record can escape so easily. The prison system should be much more secure and controlled. We hope he's found soon.