google Maps is a fantastic tool for getting where you need to go or, apparently, locating mafia bosses who have been on the run for decades. In 2002, Gioacchino Gammino, a 61-year-old convicted murderer and prominent Italian mafia, escaped from a Rome prison. He then traveled to Spain, where he assumed the name “Manuel” and worked as a chef at the restaurant Cocina de Manu in Galapagar, where he served a variety of Sicilian delicacies.
Under his new name, the former member of the Sicilian Stidda mafia eluded detection for nearly two decades, and authorities were taken aback when he discovered. When he was apprehended, he reportedly said, “How did you find me?” “I haven’t spoken to my relatives in ten years.” Gammino had been suspected of being in Spain by Sicilian police, but a glimpse on Google Maps of a man matching his description helped them track him down towards the end of last year. They later discovered images of Gammino on the Cocina de Manu Facebook page, which confirmed his recent location.
“It’s not like we spend our days looking for fugitives on Google Maps,” Palermo prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi said of the arrest to the Guardian. “We arrived in Spain after numerous earlier and lengthy studies. We were on the right track, with Google Maps confirming our findings.” When Gammino escaped prison in 2002 while a film was produced on the premises, he was serving a life sentence. He was wanted for murder and a slew of other offenses connected to the Stidda mafia’s operations.
The mobster is now in police custody in Spain, and police from both Spain and Italy are attempting to return him to Italy before the end of February. After being spotted on Google Street View, an Italian mafia boss on the run for 20 years was tracked down to a Spanish village.
Gioacchino Gammino, a convicted murderer on Italy’s most wanted gangsters list, was apprehended in Galapagar, a town near Madrid, where he had married, changed his name to Manuel, worked as a chef, and operated a fruit and vegetable shop throughout the years. In their search for Gammino, 61, Sicilian police conducted multiple investigations, and a European arrest order was obtained in 2014. The fugitive was tracked down to Spain, but Google Street View was helpful in pinpointing his exact position.
The navigation tool, which can be accessed through Google Maps, had acquired an image of two people speaking outside El Huerto de Manu, or Manu is Garden, a fruit and vegetable shop in Galapagar. Police thought one of the men looked a lot like Gammino, but it was not until they saw a listing for a local restaurant named La Cocina de Manu, or Manu’s Kitchen, that they realized it was he. The business and restaurant are already closed, but the cops discovered a photo of Gammino disguised as a chef on a still-active La Cocina de Manu Facebook page. The scar on the left side of his chin identified him. Cena Siciliana, or Sicilian dinner, was on the menu at the restaurant.
