Prisoner on the run after fleeing brother’s Melbourne funeral

A fugitive who went on the run minutes after carrying his brother’s coffin at his funeral remains at large almost six weeks after giving police the slip.

Prisoner Orijol Rukaj, who has links to Albanian organised crime groups, was in custody over major drug charges when he was granted supervised release from Marngoneet Correctional Centre in Lara to attend his brother’s funeral on Anzac Day.

Two corrections officers escorted a handcuffed Rukaj to see his brother get buried, but police say, Rukaj “managed to leave the cemetery undetected and has not been seen since”.

Detective Acting Inspector Simon Pengelly from the armed crime squad said about 300 mourners were at the funeral in Keilor East on April 25.

“He was part of the funeral procession carrying the casket. We know there was a dark-coloured Toyota Land Cruiser that turned up at that location, and he left ... We believe he was picked up by that Land Cruiser and left, but due to the sheer amount of people we couldn’t see,” Pengelly said.

“Corrections Victoria notified Triple Zero soon after the escape,” he said.

On Thursday police called on the public to help locate the wanted 47-year-old. Detectives from the Viper police taskforce visited 20 homes in Melbourne this week to speak with Rukaj’s associates. Officers believe he is still in Melbourne but that people who may have helped him are currently offshore.

A Department of Justice and Community Safety spokesperson said Corrections Victoria was conducting a review of Rukaj’s escape.

“Applications for escorted permits from prison are not automatically granted,” the spokesperson said. “The number of Corrections Victoria staff required to escort and restrain a prisoner is based on individual risk assessments and the location the person is attending.”

Earlier on Thursday morning, police arrested a man who landed at Melbourne Airport on an Emirates flight from Europe. The man previously visited Rukaj in custody, and spoke to him on the phone before the funeral.

The man was later released without charge, pending further investigations – with a focus on phone calls made to prison, which police say still need to be translated from Albanian. Pengelly said the man was still a person of interest.

“Police believe there would have been some planning,” Pengelly said of the escape.

“That’s probably why the person was arrested this morning ... The exact extent of the planning, the fact the Land Cruiser turned up right next to the funeral procession when it was going to the burial, there would have been some planning, yes.”

Rukaj has family ties to Melbo