December 10th 2025.
Italian authorities are currently in a race against time to locate a man who managed to escape from the maximum security wing of Milan's Opera prison over the weekend. This is not the first time the 41-year-old Albanian inmate, Taulant Toma, has escaped from custody, making it his fourth successful attempt. Police have taken immediate action by increasing patrols, setting up checkpoints, and tightening border controls in fear that Toma may try to flee the country before being caught.
Toma, who has been nicknamed "the wizard of escapes" by the Italian press, executed his latest breakout on Saturday using a clever and daring method that seems to be straight out of a Hollywood movie. According to reports, he used a file that he had stolen from the prison workshop to saw through the iron bars of his cell and then used a makeshift rope system made of knotted bedsheets to climb down an outer wall. He then scaled a six-meter wall and vanished into the darkness.
The inmate's sentence for robbery and other crimes is set to last until October 2048, which could explain his determination to keep slipping through the "high-security" cracks. Prosecutors have noted that Toma made his move during a shift change at the prison, a crucial detail that is being investigated to understand how the escape was able to happen without anyone noticing.
This is not the first time Toma has managed to evade the strict security measures of European prisons. In 2009, he broke out of Terni prison, but his most infamous escape was in February 2013 when he fled from the maximum security wing in Parma alongside another inmate, Vamentin Frokaj. Sadly, Frokaj was later killed during a home invasion in 2015, adding a dark twist to the already notorious escape in Italian criminal history.
After the 2013 Parma breakout, police spent 40 days searching for Toma, only to discover that he had been arrested in Belgium and was awaiting extradition in Liège. However, this was short-lived as he managed to escape from Belgian custody a few months later, adding yet another chapter to his already lengthy criminal record that now spans two countries.
Meanwhile, investigators in Milan are reviewing CCTV footage from Opera prison to determine if Toma had any help from the outside. This incident has sparked criticism of Italy's overcrowded and understaffed penal system, with unions stating that even maximum security wings are becoming harder to secure due to the lack of resources. At the time of the escape, Opera prison was holding 1,338 inmates in a space built for only 918, with only 533 officers on duty, far below the required number of 811 for the prison to run properly.
Gennarino De Fazio, the secretary general of the penitentiary police union UILPA, has expressed concern over the latest incident, calling it a result of deep structural failures in the prison system. He stated that this, along with the daily difficulties faced in prisons, highlights the failure of government policies over the past 25 years. He added that this situation not only violates the fundamental human rights of inmates but also puts a strain on the prison police corps.
If the idea of an escape using bedsheets sounds unusual, you may be surprised to learn that it happens more often than expected. While not a common occurrence, with deteriorating prison facilities worldwide, it's not the only recent case. Just last week, authorities in Louisiana were forced to launch a manhunt after three inmates facing various charges managed to break out of the St. Landry Parish jail in Opelousas. The trio used loose concrete blocks to create an opening in the wall and then used knotted sheets to climb out. One of the inmates later died during the search, one was recaptured, and the third is still on the run.
In other news, it has been announced that Google users can now add the Metro as a preferred source for their news. With the increase in unconventional prison escapes, it's always important to stay informed and up-to-date on current events.
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