Mafia fugitive among Italy's most-wanted arrested in Brazil
MILAN — Authorities in Brazil have arrested one of Italy’s most-wanted fugitives, a drug boss inside the Calabrian ‘ndrangheta organized crime network who escaped a prison in Uruguay two years ago, Italian officials said Tuesday.
Rocco Morabito, who has been wanted by Italy since 1994, was
arrested in northern Brazil following a two-year investigation involving
multiple agencies, the Italian Interior Ministry said in a statement. Another
person suspected of drug trafficking, identified as Vincenzo Pasquino, was
arrested along with him.
Morabito, 54, is considered the second-most dangerous
fugitive on Italy’s most-wanted list. Matteo Messina Denaro, regarded as the
boss of bosses within the Sicilian Mafia, has been sought since 1993.
Morabito was living in Uruguay before he was arrested in
2017. He escaped from prison two years later.
The operation coordinated by anti-mafia prosecutors in the
northern Italy city of Turin and Reggio Calabria in the south also involved
Interpol, Brazilian police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and
Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Italy’s paramilitary Carabinieri.
“Once again, the determination, dedication and
professionalism of all the investigators involved helped bring to justice,
after two years of complex and detailed investigation, the leading exponent of
the ’ndrangheta,” Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese, Italy’s top security
official, said in a statement.
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