Italy’s reputed “Cocaine King of Milan” has been busted in Brazil, two years after he escaped from a South American prison through a hole in the roof, officials said.
Rocco Morabito, 54, who is allegedly the boss of the Calabrian ’Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate, is now awaiting extradition back to his native Italy, where he has been wanted since 1994, the Italian Interior Ministry said Tuesday.
Morabito’s arrest comes after he avoided being sent back home in 2019, when he escaped from a Uruguayan prison.
Italian drug trafficking suspect Vincenzo Pasquino was arrested along with Morabito in a hotel room in the city of Joao Pessoa.
Interpol, Brazilian police, the US DEA and FBI, and Italy’s paramilitary Carabinieri all played a role in the arrest.
Rocco Morabito’s home where he lived in the luxury resort town of Punta del Este, Uruguay. Uruguay Interior Ministry via AP
Rocco Morabito has been wanted in Italy for 26 years. DAPRESS/SplashNews.com
Rocco Morabito was the No. 2 most dangerous person on the loose from Italy. Marcelo Umpierrez/AP
Montevideo’s Central Prison, where Rocco Morabito escaped from in 2019. Miguel Rojas/AFP via Getty Images“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.
The ‘Ndrangheta mafia is thought to control about 80 percent of Europe’s cocaine trade, according to the BBC.
Morabito is considered Italy’s second-most dangerous fugitive, behind Sicilian mob boss Matteo Messina Denaro, who has been on the lam since 1993.
With AP wires
