Featured Image Credit: Jam Press
Topics: World News, Google Maps
Jess Hardiman
A fugitive who escaped justice for almost two decades was finally caught after being spotted... on Google Maps.
Fabiano Souza da Conceição was convicted of robbery and the concealment of a corpse back in 2004 by the 43rd Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
But he then spent 18 years hiding from police – only to be caught after being seen exiting a car on Google Maps by a team of investigators.
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Conceição was arrested by the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, in the neighbourhood of Realengo, West of Rio, and is now behind bars.
It all began when agents from the intelligence sector of the 26th DP in Méier first identified a location where Conceição might be.
A search of that location then generated a photograph, which showed him exiting a silver car just outside the area that police had been monitoring.
According to local reports, Police Chief Cláudio Vieira de Campos, who led the capture, said the arrest was carried out without exchanging fire, and without any risk to the residents of the neighbourhood.
Following the capture, Conceição will now remain in prison.
Earlier this year, a mafia boss who was also on the run was arrested in similar circumstances, having been found after being spotted on Google Maps.
Gioacchino Gammino, a convicted murderer considered to be one of Italy’s most-wanted gangsters, had been on the run from the law for 20 years.
According to The Guardian, the 61-year-old was arrested when a police investigation confirmed that a man spotted on Google Maps who looked like Gammino was indeed the person they were looking for.
The fugitive had been caught on camera outside fruit and vegetable shop El Huerto de Manu in Galapagar, and his identity was confirmed when they found a listing for La Cocina de Manu, a nearby restaurant.
Though both establishments had closed in the meantime, police found a Facebook page associated with the restaurant and saw a picture of Gammino in chef’s gear.
They were able to identify him by the scar on the left side of his chin, with the presence of a Sicilian dish on the menu also further confirming his identity.
Gammino was finally arrested on 17 December last year, with police stressing that they had not simply stumbled across him by accident.
Francesco Lo Voi, leader of the latest investigation into Gammino’s whereabouts, told The Guardian: “It’s not as if we spend our days wading through Google Maps to find fugitives.
“There were many previous and long investigations, which led us to Spain. We were on a good path, with Google Maps helping to confirm our investigations.”
Gammino had been wanted for murder and a variety of other mafia-related crimes.
He was previously arrested in Barcelona in 1998 and was sent to serve a life sentence in Italy, but escaped in 2002 while a film was being made at the prison.
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