Rome (AP) — A convicted gang arrived in Rome on Wednesday, one of Italy’s most desired fugitives and one of the world’s most powerful drug brokers.
Rocco Moravito ranked second on Italy’s most sought after and dangerous gangster list. He was convicted 20 years ago in the absence of drug trafficking as part of the Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate, which makes billions of euros (dollars) in the cocaine business.
Italian police describe him as one of the world’s top drug brokers. Moravito, 55, must be sentenced to 30 years in prison after being convicted of absentia in a court in Milan in 2001.
He was arrested by Brazilian police in May 2021 in a joint operation with Italian and US investigators. Moravito was previously arrested in Uruguay in 2017, but escaped from prison there two years later.
Italian police have been looking for him since 1994.
Calabrian-based anti-mafia prosecutors say Moravito played a major role in the trafficking of cocaine between South America and Milan.
In addition to drug trafficking, Moravito has been convicted of the Mafia Society in Italy.
According to officials, when captured in Uruguay in 2017, Moravito lived in a luxury villa at a seaside resort using another name and fake Brazilian passport. When he was arrested at a hotel in Montevideo, police seized a 9mm gun, 13 cell phones, a cash stash, and a Mercedes-Benz.
Still number one on Italy’s most desired list of mafia bosses, Matteo is believed to still be the leader in Sicilian Mafia’s Cosanostra, despite having fled since 1993. This is Messina Denaro.
In recent decades,’Ndrangheta has surpassed the Sicilian mafia in power and scope, sneaking in or buying legitimate businesses such as restaurants and hotels to wash away cocaine revenue and many parts of Europe, according to research. We are expanding our branches to.
A small army of turn courts helped prosecutors keep many Cosa Nostra bosses behind the bar for the rest of their lives. Built around strong family ties,’Ndrangheta is not so hurt by the devastating betrayal of the loyalty of the criminal clan.