Spanish police seize ‘top Italian mafia boss’ in Barcelona
Spanish police on Friday said they had arrested a top 'Ndrangheta mafia boss in Barcelona, identifying him as one of Italy's most dangerous wanted fugitives.
Identifying the suspect only by his initials, G.R., Spain’s
Guardia Civil said the 34-year-old was arrested at Barcelona’s Mercat de Sant
Gervasi farmers market after a surveillance operation involving a family
member.
He had been on the run “for several years” and is wanted in
Italy on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and belonging to a mafia
organisation, a statement said.
The Guardia Civil said they were initially tipped off to his
presence in the northeastern Catalonia region by French narcotics investigators,
and managed to track down one of his family members with help from the Italian
police.
In November, the suspect, who is registered as living in
Germany, was sentenced in absentia by an Italian court to 20 years behind bars
for playing a leading role in international drug trafficking and money
laundering in Italy.
His 74-year-old father, who is known as “centrocapelli” and
also involved with the mafia, is currently under arrest in Parma, the Guardia
Civil said.
Based in the southern Italian region of Calabria, the
‘Ndrangheta is considered to be Italy’s richest and most powerful crime
syndicate due to its control of most of the cocaine entering Europe.
It has extended its reach across all parts of the world,
surpassing Sicily’s Cosa Nostra as Italy’s most fearsome crime syndicate.
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