A suspected mafioso arrested in France after 16 years on the run

A suspected mafioso who spent 16 years on the run has been arrested in St Etienne in central-eastern France, Interpol has announced.

Edgardo Greco, 63, a suspected member of the Calabrian mafia – the ‘Ndrangheta – was arrested on Thursday morning.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment for two murders committed in January 1991 and an attempted murder in July 1991.

Greco was arrested by the French police with information provided by the Italian carabinieri, shared between the two partner countries thanks to the I-Can project (Interpol cooperation against the ‘Ndrangheta).

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said he was very pleased with the major joint operation.

“The activity of law enforcement is incessant, silently involved day after day, in Italy and abroad, in a continuous work to safeguard the safety of citizens,” he said on Twitter. “The strong action of the State against all forms of organized crime” will continue “with determination”.

Edgardo Greco worked as a pizza maker in a pizzeria in Saint-Etienne, under the name of Paolo Dimitri – the identity of a criminal from Puglia, according to the Italian news agency AGI.

He would have been a member of the Perna-Pranno clan, which was the most important in the city of Cosenza, where he lived.

“He is considered co-responsible for the ambush of January 5, 1991 which cost the lives of the brothers Stefano and Giuseppe B. who wanted more autonomy and consideration among the clans of Cosenza”, indicates a press release from the Italian carabinieri. .

The victims had been killed “with iron bars in a fish warehouse (…) and their bodies disappeared and were never found”, specifies the press release of the carabinieri.

Last month, carabinieri arrested Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy’s most wanted gangster, who was found in hiding in Palermo, Sicily, after 30 years on the run.