Britain asked Brazil on Wednesday to extradite Ronnie Biggs, the convicted member of the “great train robbery” gang who escaped from a London jail 32 years ago, officials said.
Biggs escaped in 1965 from London’s Wandsworth Prison after serving 15 months of a 30-year sentence for his part in the 1963 robbery of 2.6 million pounds from a Glasgow-to-London mail train.
Biggs, 68, who has lived as a fugitive in Rio de Janeiro since 1970, said he was “hopeful but not confident” that he would give the British authorities the slip once again.
“I’m just going to keep my cool and wait to see what happens,” he said by telephone from his Rio home. “
Britain and Brazil ratified an extradition treaty in August, removing a major obstacle in Britain’s attempt to recapture Biggs.
