Rocco Morabito, known as the ‘King of cocaine’ and a prominent figure in the powerful ‘Ndrangheta mafia, has been extradited from Brazil to Italy after evading capture for 28 years.
The 56-year-old, who was the second most-wanted fugitive in Italy, was apprehended in Brazil in May 2021 and was extradited to Italy on Wednesday, July 6. He is set to serve a 30-year prison sentence for various drug offenses.
Nicola Morra, head of the parliament’s anti-mafia commission, described Morabito as “a major architect in the internationalisation of the (crime) gangs and became the king of cocaine brokers,” in a Facebook post.
The Italian interior ministry revealed that Morabito had been included in its ‘special search programme’ for absconded criminals.
Morabito had prior convictions for international drug trafficking in separate cases in the Italian cities of Milan, Palermo, and Reggio Calabria. Investigators asserted that he was the key figure for the ‘Ndrangheta in South America.
The ‘Ndrangheta, based in the southern region of Calabria, has surpassed Cosa Nostra to become the most potent mafia group in Italy and one of the largest crime syndicates globally.
His capture in Brazil, alongside another fugitive drug trafficker last year, occurred about four years after Morabito managed to escape from prison in Uruguay.
Upon his arrest in 2017 in Uruguay, Morabito was residing in a luxury villa in a seaside resort using an alias and a false Brazilian passport, according to authorities at the time.
During the arrest at a Montevideo hotel, police confiscated a 9mm gun, 13 mobile phones, a stash of cash, and a Mercedes coupe.
In addition to drug trafficking, Morabito has been convicted in Italy of Mafia association. He had been one of Italy’s most wanted criminals before his 2017 arrest in Uruguay, having lived for 13 years under a false identity in the Uruguayan resort town of Punta del Este.
In June 2019, Morabito and three other inmates escaped through a hole in the roof of their prison in the capital Montevideo, triggering a massive manhunt and leading to the resignation of Uruguay’s prison chief.
Morabito had been wanted by Italy since 1994 when he was caught paying 13 billion lire ($8 million) to import nearly a ton of cocaine, as reported by Corriere della Sera newspaper.