'Fugitives', a mix of documentary and 'true cime' to hunt down the most wanted

No one suspected that Manolo, the village greengrocer, was actually a mobster on the run from Italy and under search and arrest warrant.

For more than 20 years, he lived under a false identity that hid his real name: Gioacchino Gammino.

He is charged with two murders between mafia clans and criminal association with Cosa Nostra.

In Italy he was sentenced to life imprisonment, but managed to escape from prison and, since then, had taken refuge in Galapagar (33,400 inhabitants, Madrid).

Until the Fugitive Location Group of the National Police found him to return him to prison.

Every Monday, for five weeks and from this April 25, this unit will sneak into the screens of Movistar Plus + to tell this and many other stories in

, the new bet of the house.

More information

The Italian mafias establish their second residence in Spain

This set began to operate in 2004, when the European Arrest Warrant (OED) came into force from the European Union.

A new regulation that made it necessary to create specific organizations in charge of persecuting those who fled from justice.

And since then, approximately every year, the Fugitive Group of the National Police detains some 400 fugitives from justice, both international criminals —which account for 75% of these arrests— and nationals, since 25% of the remaining criminals have outstanding debts with the Spanish justice system.

The chief inspector in charge of the section, Fernando González, is one of the visible faces of the format, which combines

, documentary, factual and

The chief inspector of the Fugitive Search Unit, Fernando González, during the promotion of the program.Josefina Blanco

In 2004 there were only five people, until it was consolidated today and became a squad with its own entity.

They admit that many of them can become obsessed with the criminals they are trying to hunt down, from looking at the faces of people they pass on the street when they are not on duty, to dreaming that they handcuff the criminal on duty.

“When the borders with Europe open, the sun, the beach and the quality of life make both the good and the bad want to come to Spain.

The great Colombian cartels begin to fully establish themselves in our country.

And that combination of drugs, organized crime, sun and tourism make Spain an ideal place to do business and have fun”, explains González in front of the cameras.

The range of people they have in their sights is extremely varied.

It ranges from assassins, hitmen and rapists, to traffickers and leaders of criminal organizations.

And, since the shooting began, those responsible for the format, Elena García and Susana Alonso, have been present in practically all these searches, who have experienced it together with the team as if they were two more members of the body.

They are two veteran journalists who have been interspersing different television programs for years.

In some of them, both had coincided with the police, so before the pandemic they had the idea of ​​creating this project, to tell more in depth what the

and teach it in the first person.

Produced by La Caña Brothers, they also found the approval of González, head of the brigade, from the first moment.

Elena García and Susana Alonso, creators of 'Fugitives', during a promotional session.Josefina Blanco

“We always had the feeling that when we went to record with them it was just 'Stop, Police!'

and until then”, says García, “Then you arrived at the police station and saw the bad guy sitting down, and while we read the guy's file we always had the feeling that we only saw ourselves making the arrest, but we didn't know how bad it was.

Nor how long it had taken them to find him.

Alonso points out that fiction also plays an important role in the chapters because "with this, what we are trying to do is highlight a bit the profile of that bad guy."

As in the case of Gammino, whose escape from a Roman prison taking advantage of the shooting of a film is represented by actors in

.

Garcia and Alonso have told the most compelling stories of the fugitives wanted by the police right now.

To find some they have had to sacrifice many hours of waiting in front of their house, as in the case of David M., sentenced to 12 years for sexual abuse of his minor nephew with a mental disability.

In four years he had not been out on the street, but thanks to the patience of the team and the ingenuity they say they need to collect evidence, they managed to find him and many other criminals.

"The patience of the hunter is the wisdom of the investigator," says González in the first minutes of the footage, one of the main mottos of this squad and that perfectly condenses the way the fugitive search group works, to ensure that, In the end, none can escape.

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