Spanish police have arrested a man believed to be one of the bosses of the Italian mafia organization 'Ndrangheta, based in the Calabria region, authorities said, quoted by DPA, BTA reported.
Prosecutors in Calabria have identified the suspect as Domenico Pavilianiti, also known as “Don Mico“. He is wanted on a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) dating back to 2022.
The man was detained in the city of Soria, about 200 kilometers northeast of Madrid, Spanish national police said last night. The arrest follows a joint investigation by Spanish and Italian authorities that lasted several months.
In Italy, he is accused of multiple crimes, including violent acts, drug trafficking and money laundering, Spanish police said. The suspect faces 19 years in prison.
A video posted by Spanish police on the social network Ex shows the man being led away in handcuffs without resistance.
The procedure for his extradition to Italy, where he will serve his sentence, is expected to begin in the coming days, the Calabrian prosecutor's office said.
Spanish media reported that 65-year-old Pavilianiti is one of the most wanted fugitives in Italy and has been arrested in Spain several times.
He was first arrested in 1996 and extradited to Italy in 1999. He later served about 20 years in prison before being released due to an error in calculating his sentence, the newspapers “Mundo“ and “Pais“ reported. In 2021, he was arrested again in Madrid, but was later released after his sentence expired.
According to “Mundo“, he led a quiet life in Soria - a city of about 40,000 inhabitants - under the protection of a personal bodyguard.
The Italian 'Ndrangheta is considered one of the most powerful mafia organizations in the world. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it was at the center of a bloody war between mafia families, in which about 700 people died.