Authorities in both countries said Friday that Italy’s most violent mafia boss, who escaped from a maximum-security prison last year using a bed sheet, has been arrested in France.
Marco Raduano, described as a “dangerous man” on Europol’s list of Europe’s most wanted criminals, has been detained in Bastia, on the French island of Corsica.
He escaped from a high-security prison in Nuoro, Sardinia in February 2023 using a sheet to shrink the walls. The escape was captured on surveillance camera footage and shared widely on social media. In the video, Raduano can be seen hanging from the sheets before jumping to the ground and running away.
Do you want to avoid the mafia bosses and go to Massima Scicrezza’s Carcere? Calandosi con le lenzuola annodate dal muro di cinta.Following the success of Marco Raduano pic.twitter.com/XJOyWf1OGS
— Marco Fattorini (@MarcoFattorini) February 26, 2023
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said his “right-hand man” Gianluigi Troiano was also arrested near Granada, Spain, describing it as “another major blow to organized crime”.
Laduano, 40, is the boss of the rural Gargano clan, which operates within a young, little-known organized crime syndicate in Foggia, in southern Italy’s Puglia region. fourth mafia.
Europol said he was serving a 24-year prison sentence for being a member of a criminal organization, drug trafficking and illegal weapons possession.
Europol said he was the “head” of a criminal organization and “acted as a promoter, organizer and ruthless killer of an organization dedicated to managing murder, drug trafficking and extortion rackets.” Ta.
His escape was highly embarrassing to Italian authorities and highlighted the power of the Fourth Mafia, considered today Italy’s most violent organized crime syndicate.
Less sophisticated than the wealthy ‘Ndrangheta, the Naples-based Camorra, and Sicily’s Cosa Nostra, the Foggia clan engages in drug trafficking, armed robbery, and theft of vehicles and livestock, while extorting, bombing, and assaulting local populations. Relies on intimidation.
Mr. Raduano’s arrest comes about a year after authorities arrested him. Italy’s most wanted fugitive arrested, after a 30-year manhunt, has detained Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro. Messina Denaro in September died In the prison ward of the hospital.