06 September, 2017
One of the most wanted Italian mobsters was arrested in Uruguay after he hid for 23 years, Interior Minister Marco Miniati said.
The Ndrangheta criminal syndicate boss Rocco Morabito was captured by police in Uruguay on Sunday, ANSA news agency reported on Monday. He has been involved in storing and spreading cocaine.
Morabito was arrested in a hotel in Punta del Este, a tourist resort about 90 miles from the capital, Montevideo, "after months of intense worldwide cooperation in intelligence matters", the Italian police said in a statement. Italian authorities hope that he will give them information about the powerful boss of the Sicilian mafia, Mateo Denarro, with whom Morabito has worked.
Authorities in Uruguay say the subsequent six-month operation to locate Morabito saw a breakthrough when his name then appeared on the hotel guest list.
Morabito was convicted in absentia for drug trafficking and organized-crime activities in Italy and sentenced to 30 years in prison. He had been able to obtain Brazilian identity documents, as well as the right to live in Uruguay.
Police found 13 mobile phones, a 9mm pistol, ammunition, a hunting knife and 150 passport photos of him in different disguises, during a search of his home in the South American country.
Morabito, 51, is accused of cocaine trafficking to Italy, with distribution in Milan.
Group of the Ndrangheta controls a significant portion of the cocaine trade. He had been on the run from the authorities for about 25 years.
Morabito's wife, whose passport states she was born in Angola, was also detained. He is thought to have arrived in Uruguay in 2002.
In January last year, Italian police arrested on the South of the country, the two leaders Ndrangheta, Giuseppe Ferraro and Giuseppe Crea, who was on the run for 18 years.
