The Mafiosi now on the lam is identified as one Marco Raduano, aged 39, and leader of the Sacra Corona Unita group. He was brought on charges of drug trafficking on top of a litany of other previous accusations, including gambling, extortion, and prostitution, and sentenced to 19 years in prison back in 2018.
Still, Raduano decided to cut his release date from 2046 to 2023. Raduano had managed to tie together enough bedsheets to slide down the wall of his prison cell in what prison cameras captured was a Hollywood-like escape act.
Sheets Make Good Bedfellows
The man, who is still missing, is known for his brutality and association with a criminal group that has been a major headache for authorities. What Sacra Corona Unita lacks in awareness among the broader population, though, it more for makes up in brutality that matches the operations of more notorious groups, such as ‘Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra, which are also linked to various gambling, drugs, and human trafficking operations.
Sacra Corona Unita has earned a name for itself precisely for its merciless methods. Anyone on its cross-hair would end up dead with crushed skulls so that their families couldn’t give them an open-casket burial. All three groups mentioned here were known to collaborate on at least one illegal gambling project which was clamped down by authorities back in 2018.
The trio were running an illegal gambling ring that was estimated to be worth €4.5 billion at the time – around $4.80 billion today’s money. However, this is unlikely to have put the groups out of money. The Sacra Corona Unita in particular is running gambling dens in Albania, investigators believe.
Despite his penchant for violence, Raduano was not himself a violent prisoner while serving his time. He in fact ended up behaving as a model prisoner and was rewarded with a job at the library. It’s believed that his rather freer schedule let him plan his escape and act on his plan. The prison where he was held, Badu ‘e Carros, was also experiencing major staff shortages, meaning that Raduano’s escape was not noticed until after two hours.