A prison escape trope in old movies seems ridiculous — tying bed sheets
together to make a rope to climb down from a prison window. A bed sheet ladder: absurd
Only it isn't. Here is one for real. Although this Mafia boss's landing is less elegant than you'd
see in the movies, after a 17-foot grapple down a knotted sheet, he didn't do so badly
The Mob Reporter here with news of a different sort — not of gangsters getting caught, which I've
had a lot of lately, but of one who got away, at least for now, a Mafia Boss who's the first ever to
escape from a maximum-security prison on an island in the Mediterranean. Let me tell you about it.
The man at the end of his rope is Marco Raduano, a Mafia boss in
Italy who was imprisoned for drugs and weapon convictions — and awaiting
trial on murder charges. His remarkable escape was on February 24, 2023, but it
didn't grab headlines until video of his daring drop was revealed. Badu 'e Carros is
an old-school prison on the island of Sardinia, in the Mediterranean Sea, west of Italy's mainland
Roduano, 39, nicknamed “Pallone,” is a man of the Sacro Corona Unita, a crime group in southern
Italy's Apulia region. It's often called the "fourth Mafia" because it's similar in form
to the much older and better known Italian Mafias: Cosa Nostra of Sicily, 'Ndrangheta of
Calabria, and Camorra of Napoli. The Sacro Corona Unita only began in the 1980s but it has left
its mark on the region, which forms the heel on the boot-shaped map of Italy.
He's said to be the boss of a Sacro Corona Unita clan that bears his family name. He took over after
the murder of his boss in 2015, near the start of a bloody war with a rival clan which is fought
against the backdrop of a wider war in the region between alliances of mob clans. Raduano's base is in
Vieste, a picturesque coastal town in an abundantly beautiful area surrounded by a huge national park.
A tourism boom there in recent years transformed the city, so its connection now in world news to
the Mafia is a source of great embarrassment. In fact a few hours after Raduano's escaped, there
were fireworks in his hometown. Many believed it was to celebrate the boss's prison break.
The city's mayor, however, rejected that claim, insisting the fireworks were for a 40th birthday
party at a popular club near the port. "The entire city welcomed the news of the escaped with great
sadness and concern," the mayor said, wishing his home-grown mobster a speedy returned to jail.
There are plenty of others left red-faced by the escape. The word so far is that Raduano worked
in the prison library and spent much of his time watching the movement of guards, memorizing their
routines, and planning his big break down to the smallest detail. He somehow had a key that got him
out of the maximum security wing. The rope ladder was made from knotted sheets and was tied down
at the top with supports that could sustain his weight. He likely had help inside. On his big day
he presented at the afternoon head count. He then took advantage of staffing shortages that left
the security cameras on the walls completely unmonitored, officials say. While the cameras
caught the escape, providing us this footage, it wasn't seen by anyone until after it was much too
late. Once in the prison courtyard, he dashed to the perimeter fence and likely had someone waiting for
him outside, to whisk him away. He had a two-hour head start before guards even realized he was gone.
There are calls now for immediate fixes at Italy's prisons. The guards' union says prison staff across
the country has been reduced by several thousand, including removing sentries from prison walls.
Raduano looked even younger than he is. As he came to prominence he was often called "Faccia
d'Angelo," which means Angel Face. By 2018, at the age of 34, he was under investigation for drug
trafficking and gangsterism. In 2019, he was convicted of extortion and receiving stolen
goods and sentenced to seven years. Some of the clan's extortions weren't subtle —
here's one ramming a truck through the front gate of a businessman's home at night.
Raduano was stripped of a chunk of his assets back then; cash, properties, a seafront villa,
valuable land on the edge of the national park, jewelry, and cars. Just weeks before his escape he
was sentenced to 19 years for drug trafficking and firearm possession and he was waiting for
his murder trial, accused in two murders and an attempted murder that were all part of the mob war.
Raduano isn't the only man of his clan to escape custody. At the end of 2021, a mobster described as
his right-hand man, disappeared while under house arrest. Gianluigi Troiano, was arrested in 2021.
He was accused of high-level involvement in the clan's drug operations, but when other of the clan's
leaders were arrested, he fled. Police believe it was to allow him to maintain the clan's authority
while the others were incarcerated. He's still on the run. Authorities said that after Troiano
fled, the news was quickly shared with Raduano in prison. I'm sure that after Raduano's escape
the news traveled back in the other direction. Meanwhile, a frantic search continues, for both of
them. Some think Raduano is in a remote mountain hideout still on the island, aided by local bandits.
Others think he was quickly whisked away closer to home, to renew his authority on his territory.
I don't know how long his freedom will last. It could be years or he could be caught by
the time I finish this video. But I'm sure he will have valued what freedom he's had.
The Badu 'e Carros prison has held some of Italy's most notorious terrorists, mafia bosses, and killers. It's
also where a mob boss was assassinated in 1981 when an inmate tore his heart from his chest.
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