Most-wanted ‘Ndrangheta member arrested in Barcelona

A member of the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta who had been on the run since 2018 and was on the list of Italy’s most dangerous fugitives was arrested in Barcelona on Friday.

Giuseppe Romeo, a key player in the ‘Ndrangheta‘s European cocaine trade, received 20 years in jail on mafia and drug trafficking charges.

Romeo, 35, from the ‘Ndrangheta fief of San Luca, was arrested by the Guardia Civil with the help of Italian prosecutors and officials.

The arrest “rewards the work and the great determination of state police investigators, coordinated by the anti-mafia directorate of Reggio Calabria,” according to Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese

She said it was a “hard blow” to ‘Ndrangheta‘s narcotics trafficking and that Italian police had shown “dedication, professionalism and great ability to cooperate with authorities in other countries”.

According to police, the man was one of the group’s most important leaders and had been wanted for years.

The Central Operational Unit (UCO) stated they “moved quickly to verify the evidence obtained and, with the help of the Judicial Police Unit of Catalonia (UPJZ), it was possible to locate to a family member closely linked to [Giuseppe Romeo], establishing an intense and discreet surveillance into them hoping that he could somehow contact the fugitive, or provide any clue as to his whereabouts.”

‘Ndrangheta is Italy’s richest and most powerful mafia, outstripping Sicily’s Cosa Nostra and the Camorra in Naples.

source(s): ansa.it , euroweeklynews.com

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