Rocco Morabito, leader of the Calabrian mafia 'Ndrangheta, captured in Brazil
The leader of the Calabrian mafia Rocco Morabito on September 4, 2017 © AFP - HANDOUT
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Italian mafia boss Rocco Morabito, a drug trafficker on the run since his escape from a Uruguayan prison in June 2019, was captured Monday in the city of Joao Pessoa, in northeastern Brazil, according to authorities.
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Rocco Morabito, considered the boss of the 'Ndrangheta (Calabrian mafia), was apprehended "
with another Italian fugitive
", whose identity has not been revealed, following a "
joint investigation between Brazil and Italy,
”the Brazilian Federal Police (PF) said in a statement.
He is one of Italy's most wanted offenders, according to FP.
"
There are traces of Rocco Morabito's actions in the organization of drug trafficking between Brazil and Europe since the 1990s,
" explained the PF, who announced a press conference for Tuesday with details on the operation.
The Supreme Court (STF) had ordered the arrest of the 54-year-old man.
Rocco Morabito had been wanted since 1995 by the Italian courts, accused of illegal association and drug trafficking, and had been sentenced in absentia to 28 years in prison, then to 30 years.
One of the world's most wanted criminals
The Italian, considered one of the ten most wanted criminals in the world, was arrested in 2017 at a hotel in Montevideo after having resided for 13 years under a different identity in the Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este.
Uruguayan justice approved his extradition to Italy in 2018, but in June 2019 he managed to escape from Montevideo central prison through his roof and had been on the run ever since.
►Also read: Trial of the 'Ndrangheta: "most of the accused come from regional civil society"
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The Calabrian mafia N'Drangheta on the dock