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Think Inside the Box

DW staff (nda)November 21, 2008

When it comes to escape plans, one inmate's ploy to break free by hiding in the prison's rubbish is about as original as hiding a file in a birthday cake. However, sometimes sophisticated methods are over-rated.

https://p.dw.com/p/FzCj
Dominic Purcell, who plays death row inmate Lincoln Burrows on Fox's "Prison Break," looks through the fence in the yard at the Joliet Correctional Center
Instead of relying on his brother's brains, Lincoln Burrows should have just hidden in a boxImage: AP

For one inmate at a German correctional facility, simple certainly turned out to be effective.

Rather than brushing up on intricate escape plans by watching "Prison Break," the Turkish drug dealer who recently broke out of the Willich jail eschewed complicated tattoos of blueprints and the drugging of guards by simply hiding in a box.

There were no tunnels, no hard-bargaining for coveted work details, and no seducing of the attractive lady doctor who could provide access to medication and strategic windows. Instead, the 37-year-old took advantage of Germany's green policies and left himself out for recycling.

Worker carries a ballot box in Thailand
Man, this one is really heavyImage: AP

Taking the risk of being pulped into toilet paper over spending the next seven years doing time for drug dealing offenses, the savvy jailbird managed to evade all the security measures the prison had in place and escaped to freedom with the rubbish.

Now the police in the neighboring town of Viersen in North Rhine Westphalia are considering issuing an international arrest warrant for him.

Whether the warrant will be printed on recycled paper or not, the police wouldn't say.