According to Interpol, he was one of the "most wanted fugitives in the world". After extensive investigations, the mafia boss Rocco Morabito is now extradited from Brazil to Italy. A luxury party was once fatal for the 56-year-old.
According to Interpol and the Italian authorities, Brazil has extradited mafia boss Rocco Morabito to Italy. Morabito's extradition sends a "strong message: no matter how powerful the Mafia's criminal network, our global police network is stronger," said Giovanni Bombardieri, head of Reggio Calabria's anti-mafia prosecutor. The 56-year-old head of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta was arrested last year after 27 years on the run.
Morabito has been wanted by the Italian judiciary since 1995. He was first arrested in 2017 in a hotel in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, after living in the South American country under a false identity for 13 years.
As "BBC" reports, he lived in a large house there, but only drove a modest car. It wasn't until he organized a luxury party for his daughter's birthday that the neighbors became aware of his wealth. Because he then also registered his daughter at a school under her real family name, the police had him observed and finally arrested. In 2019, however, the "cocaine king" escaped over the roof of his detention center and was arrested again in May 2021 in João Pessoa, northeastern Brazil.
Uruguay waived an extradition request to allow Morabito's direct transfer to his home country, where he had been sentenced in absentia to 30 years in prison. According to Interpol, he was one of the "most wanted fugitives in the world" and the second most wanted criminal in Italy. The 56-year-old arrived at Rome airport accompanied by several carabinieri.
As the "Tagesschau" reports, Morabito is said to have been involved in the international drug trade from 1988 to 1994. His alleged dealings in cocaine made him known as the "Cocaine King". Among other things, he is said to have been responsible for the drug transport in Italy, for the distribution in Milan and for an attempted transport of 630 kilos of cocaine from Brazil in 1993.
