An Italian mafia boss, Roberto Pannunzi (c), is escorted by Colombian security forces at the headquarters of the National Police in Bogota, Colombia, on July 6, 2013.
Roberto Pannunzi, the suspected boss of Ndrangheta, Italy’s Calabrian mafia, has been arrested at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport after he was deported back to the European country from Colombia.
The 65-year-old man who is said to be the world’s biggest cocaine dealer was arrested by Italian security forces upon his arrival at the airport Saturday evening.
According to a statement released by deputy chief prosecutor in Reggio Calabria in southern Italy, Nicola Gratteri, Å“He is the biggest cocaine importer in the world. He is the only one who can organize purchases and sales of cocaine shipments of 3,000 kilos (6,600 pounds) and up.”
This comes after the Colombian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the fugitive Italian mobster was captured near the capital city of Bogota with the help of the US Drug Enforcement Administration on Friday.
When arrested, Pannunzi presented himself with a fake Venezuelan identification card bearing the name Silvano Martino, the statement further said.
He was first caught in Colombia in 1994 and extradited to Italy but was freed when his detention order expired.
In 2004, he was re-arrested and later convicted. Pannunzi fled from a clinic in the Italian capital Rome, where he was being treated as a prisoner.
Ndrangheta is considered by Italian authorities as the country’s most dangerous and wealthiest crime syndicate, which has overtaken the Sicilian mafia and become one of the world’s largest criminals.
In April, Colombia arrested another alleged top Italian mafia member, Domenico Trimboli, suspected to be a lynchpin between the Colombiaâ„¢s Medellin drug cartel and the Ndrangheta, based in the Calabria region.
MAM/PR
Republished with permission from: Press TV