Anthony Piovesan
One of the main leaders of a fierce Italian mafia gang was casually cycling away from his Costa del Sol home this morning until police dramatically pounced.
One of the main bosses from a notorious Italian mafia gang has been arrested on the Costa del Sol.
Plain-clothed Policia Nacional officers arrested the man while he was leaving his house on a bicycle in Fuengirola on Friday morning.
He is allegedly a part of the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta mafia gang and has been on the run from Italian authorities since 2015.
He allegedly has four European arrest and extradition orders against him for drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and forgery of documents.
Policia Nacional said the man was the main leader of a mafia operation that involved shipments of cocaine from Colombia to Italy.
Through his contacts in South America, he allegedly personally managed the operation, making him a “point of reference” for all the groups of the Calabrian mafia that operated in the southern province of Reggio-Calabria.
He had allegedly gained the trust of one of the most notorious clans within the Italian mafia, the Morabito gang, who trusted him to contact cocaine suppliers and prepare shipments of the drug to Europe through maritime containers, also using air shipments.
Policia Nacional also said the operation could be linked to the seizure of 800 kilograms of cocaine in Italy during past police operations.
Investigators first located the man in Barcelona, but he was later verified to be living in Fuengirola.
“At the time of arrest the fugitive offered great resistance, identifying himself with a false Italian identity,” Policia Nacional said in a statement.
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