Marco Raduano was detained on the French island of Corsica.
Rome, Italy:
The leader of one of Italy’s most violent mafia gangs who escaped from a maximum-security prison last year has been arrested in France, authorities in both countries said on Friday.
Marco Raduano, described as “dangerous” on Europol’s list of Europe’s most wanted fugitives, is being detained on the French island of Corsica.
In February 2023, he escaped from a high-security prison in Nuoro, Sardinia, by using a bed sheet to knock down a wall.
Italian authorities on Friday also announced the detention of his close aide Gianluigi Troiano, another fugitive captured near Granada in southern Spain.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said: “The Carabinieri (police) captured two dangerous fugitives abroad, Marco Raduano and his right-hand man Gianluigi Gianluigi Troiano, this is another major blow to organized crime.”
Raduano, 40, was imprisoned for being the boss of the rural Gargano clan, a young but little-known organized crime group known as the First Order of Foggia in Italy’s southern Puglia region. Four Mafia.
He is serving a 24-year prison sentence for membership of a criminal organization, drug trafficking, possession of illegal weapons and other crimes, according to Europol.
Europol said he was “at the very top” of the criminal organization and “a promoter, organizer and ruthless killer dedicated to committing murder, drug trafficking and managing extortion operations”.
A Corsica source told AFP that Raduano was arrested in Aleria on Thursday night while dining at a restaurant with a young woman.
Sources said he had been living there “pretty frugally” on fake documents and using a stolen vehicle that was wrongly registered.
He did not resist arrest.
“Turn off the network”
Raduano’s escape was a huge embarrassment to Italian authorities and highlighted the power of the Fourth Mafia, now considered Italy’s most violent organized crime group.
Italian police said Troiano was a “second-in-command and organizer” who escaped from house arrest not far from Foggia in September 2021.
They said he was found in Otura, a town near Granada, and will now be sentenced to nine years and two months in prison.
Raduano is also accused of murdering two men in separate incidents in Foggia in 2017, in which Troiano was also involved.
Judicial proceedings are ongoing.
Piante Dosi thanked the French and Spanish authorities for their cooperation, which allowed the Italian police to “close the net” on the two fugitives.
Unlike the wealthy ‘Ndrangheta, the Camorra of Naples or the Sicilian mafia, the Foggia family make a living by extorting, bombing and intimidating locals.
They also engage in drug trafficking, armed robbery, vehicle and livestock theft, and other activities.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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