A mafia hitman on the run for 16 years was arrested Thursday in France, where he was working as a pizza chef.
Edgardo Greco, 63, who authorities say has ties to Italy’s notorious.
‘Ndranghetha crime group and was convicted of killing two people in the early 1990s, was arrested. French police in the southeastern French city of Saint-Etienne.
Described as a dangerous fugitive, Greco was sentenced to life in prison. The 1991 murders of brothers Stefano and Giuseppe Bartolomeo. Italian police said in a statement that the pair were beaten to death with metal bars in a fish shop in Calabria. “Their bodies were lost and never found again,” the police said
Greco is also charged with attempted murder in a separate case. Mafia hitman found working as pizza chef in France after 16 years on the run
Italian news agency ANSA reported that Greco was working. As a pizza chef at an Italian restaurant in France under an assumed identity. Italian police released a photo of Greco in a chef’s white coat in what appears to be a restaurant kitchen.
Interpol, the international police agency that coordinated the case with French. And Italian law enforcement agencies, said Greco’s crimes were linked. The “mafia war” of the early 1990s between the Pino Senna. And Perna Pranno organized crime rings in the Cosenza region of southern Italy.
He was held responsible for two deaths during the so-called Maxi Trials.
Which tried and convicted hundreds of Mafia operatives from 1986 to 1992. Police said he “avoided execution” of a precautionary prison order in 2006 relating to that trial.
The Catanzaro public prosecutor’s office in southern Italy issued. A European arrest warrant for Greco in October 2006 after he escaped from police custody.
Thursday’s arrest comes two weeks after Italian police arrested mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro. Who was also linked to the ‘Nodrenzatha’ and was on the run for decades as Italy’s most-wanted man.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said in a statement, “No matter. How hard fugitives try to live a quiet life abroad, they cannot escape justice forever. Dedicated officials around the world will always ensure justice.”
“The capture of Edgardo Greco brings one of the worst Italian criminals to justice.
And demonstrates the capacity and commitment of our police force. Which has been operating in cooperation with the French authorities on this occasion,” he said.
The operation was part of Interpol’s I-CAN project. An Italian-funded initiative launched in 2020 to target ‘Ndrenztha crime groups’. Interpol says it has helped arrest dozens of fugitives around the world.
‘Ndrenjatha’ has long been a major concern for the Italian authorities. It is considered the most dangerous and powerful Italian crime group with global connections. And strong ties to the South American cocaine trade bound for Europe.
Another mass trial in 2021 saw around 350 accused. N’Drenztha members appear in a court in Calabria, southern Italy.
