His identity was confirmed when police found a Facebook page for a now-closed restaurant.
One of the leaders of the Italian mafia who was on the run for years was arrested after being seen on the Google Maps application.
Gioacchino Gammino, 61, was found in Galapagar, about 40 km from Madrid, Spain, where he lived under the name Manuel.
A Google Street View shot showing a Gammino-like man standing in front of a grocery store was key in tracking down the fugitive, investigators say.
Gammino escaped from a Rome prison in 2002 and was sentenced to life in prison for murder the following year.
He was a member of a Sicilian mobster group known as Stidda and he was one of the most wanted gangsters in Italy.
Sicilian police suspected that Gammino was in Spain, but it was the photo of the man talking in front of a business known as El Huerto de Manu that triggered an immediate investigation.
His identity was confirmed when police found a Facebook page of a now-closed restaurant, called Cocina de Manu, which was located near the business seen on Google Maps.
Photos of Gammino in chef’s clothes had been posted on the profile and he was identified by a scar on his chin.
The restaurant had Sicilian dishes on the menu.
He was arrested on December 17, but the middle The Republic reported it this Wednesday.
After his arrest, he reportedly told police: “How did they find me? I haven’t even called my family in 10 years. “
Gammino is in custody in Spain and Italian police expect to transport him by the end of February, he told the agency. Reuters Nicola Altiero, deputy director of the European country’s anti-mafia police unit.
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