‘Cocaine king’ of Milan extradited from Brazil: Who is Rocco Morabito?

After nearly three decades on the run, Rocco Morabito arrived in Rome on Wednesday.

Morabito, a convicted mobster and one of the world’s most powerful drug brokers, spent years in South America using a fake ID to dodge authorities, as per the BBC.

He was arrested in May last year in a joint operation by Brazilian and Italian police, as per BBC.

Here’s what you need to know about the "cocaine king of Milan":

Early life

Morabito arrived in trendy Milan from his hometown of Africo, in the Calabria region, at the age of 23, and quickly carved out a reputation on the drug scene.

He has family ties to mafia boss Giuseppe Morabito, as per BBC.

Nicknamed "U Tamunga" in reference to a German military vehicle, the DKW Munga, the young Morabito became a charismatic figure in Milan who frequented bars and parties, according to Italian press reports.

He soon came to the attention of Italian anti-Mafia investigators and they regularly tracked him delivering suitcases filled with millions of lira to Colombian drug traffickers.

Police moved in on his birthday as he made what would be his last delivery in October 1994, but he managed to escape.

No 2 mobster

Rocco Morabito held the No 2 position on the list of Italy’s most wanted and dangerous mobsters. Part of the ’Ndrangheta organised crime syndicate, which does billions of euros (dollars) in cocaine business, Morabito  is staring a 30-year sentence after being convicted in absentia by a Milan court in 2001.

Morabito is considered a "capo" or captain of the 'Ndrangheta group.

Italy's much-feared 'Ndrangheta mafia is thought to run much of Europe's cocaine trade from Calabria in the southwest.

It is also involved in arms trafficking, prostitution and extortion.

In recent decades, the ’Ndrangheta has eclipsed the Sicilian Mafia in power and scope, spreading its branches throughout much of Europe as it launders cocaine revenues by infiltrating or buying up legitimate businesses like restaurants and hotels, investigations have found.

A small army of turncoats helped prosecutors put many Cosa Nostra bosses behind bars for life. The ’Ndrangheta, built around strong family ties, has been less hurt by devastating betrayals of crime clan loyalties.

Calabria-based anti-Mafia prosecutors say Morabito played a big role in cocaine trafficking between South America and Milan, a key distribution point for the drug to be sold elsewhere in Italy and across Europe.

Among other crimes, he is accused of ensuring the transport of drugs into Italy and their sale in Milan, as well as attempting to import 592 kilograms (1,300 pounds) of cocaine from Brazil in 1992 and 630 kilograms a year later.

In addition to drug trafficking, Morabito has been convicted in Italy of mafia association.

There are records of Rocco Morabito's involvement in... drug trafficking between Brazil and Europe since the 1990s," said the Brazilian police.

Brazil's Federal Supreme Court had issued an arrest warrant for him.

Capture in Uruguay and escape

Morabito was one of Italy's most wanted men when he was arrested in a Montevideo hotel in September 2017.

By then, he had lived for 13 years under a fake identity in the Uruguayan resort town of Punta del Este.

 

As per BBC, while he rented a luxurious house, filling it with works of art, neighbours said he drove a modest car and it was not until he threw a lavish party for his daughter's birthday that they became aware of his riches.

He came under the eye of authorities after registering his daughter at school under her real name, as per the report.

Morabito was living in a luxury villa in a seaside resort using an alias and a false Brazilian passport, authorities said.

During his arrest in a Montevideo hotel, police also seized a 9mm gun, 13 cell phones and a stash of cash, as well as a Mercedes coupe.

In June 2019, Uruguay's interior ministry announced Morabito and three other inmates had escaped through a hole in the roof of their prison in the capital Montevideo, setting off a massive manhunt and causing Uruguay's prison chief to resign.

As per BBC, police finally tracked him down last year to João Pessoa, a port city in north-eastern Brazil, where he was arrested along with another member of the 'Ndrangheta mafia group, Vincenzo Pasquino.

With inputs from agencies

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