The Italian police have managed to find the trace of a mafioso, on the run since 2002, thanks to a photo of Google Street View. He had taken refuge in Spain.
It’s a rather unusual arrest. After two years of investigation, the Italian police have grappled with Gioacchino Gammino, a mobster on the run for twenty years, in part thanks to images from Google Street View. The 61-year-old was found in Galapagar, a town of 25,000 near Madrid, where he was living under a false name.
Investigators revealed to Reuters that a man resembling him, chatting in front of a fruit and vegetable display, was spotted on a street photo, freely accessible on the application. “The photo allowed us to confirm the investigation that we were developing in a traditional way”, confirmed Nicola Altiero, deputy director of the Italian anti-mafia police unit (DIA), quoted by the British press agency.
A member of the Sicilian Mafia group Stidda, Giocchino Gammino escaped from Rebibbia prison in Rome in 2002, and was sentenced the following year to life imprisonment for murder. Authorities have announced that the man is currently in detention in Spain and could be extradited to Italy by the end of February.
We find many things thanks to Google Maps
This isn’t the first time that Googe Street View or Google Maps have helped solve surveys. In 2019, the body of a resident of Florida, declared missing since November 1997, was found thanks to the satellite view of Google Maps. Barry Fay, a 50-year-old from Wellington, contacted police after a neighbor informed him of a vehicle at the bottom of his pond, visible from the skies. The police, who then exhumed the white Saturn SL from 1994, also discovered the skeleton of William Moldt there.
Another example: in Indonesia, a young man kidnapped at the age of 5 was able to rely on some memories and Google Maps to find his family, eleven years later.