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Wanted Italian mafia cocaine trafficker pictured at Pablo Escobar's grave arrested in Colombia
An Italian mafia cocaine trafficker has been arrested in Colombia where he was pictured posing by Pablo Escobar's grave.
www.sundayworld.com
An Italian mafia cocaine trafficker has been arrested in Colombia where he was pictured posing by Pablo Escobar's grave.
Luigi Belvedere, one of Italy's most wanted men, was tracked down to the city of Medellín where Escobar's cartel was based.
In announcing his arrest, Italian police released a photo of Belvedere visiting the grave of Pablo Escobar, the founder and boss of the Medellin cartel, who was killed by police in 1993.
Belvedere is pictured wearing a cap and a white tee-shirt with a Shamrock on it crouched beside the grave of infamous drug lord.
The fugitive, who served as an intermediary with Colombian drug gangs, was arrested after almost four years on the run.
Despite fleeing Europe to evade trafficking charges, he continued to be "active in the organisation of drug shipments from South America to Europe", police said.
Belvedere, who is believed to be around 32-years-old, was on the Italian government's list of most dangerous fugitives, having worked with the Casalesi, who are part of the notorious Camorra mafia-type organisation.
most dangerous |
Wanted Italian mafia cocaine trafficker pictured at Pablo Escobar's grave arrested in Colombia
Luigi Belvedere, one of Italy's most wanted men, was tracked down to the city of Medellín where Escobar's cartel was based
Luigi Belvedere posing by the grave of the notorious late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar
Neil Fetherstonhaugh
Yesterday at 18:31
Luigi Belvedere, one of Italy's most wanted men, was tracked down to the city of Medellín where Escobar's cartel was based.
In announcing his arrest, Italian police released a photo of Belvedere visiting the grave of Pablo Escobar, the founder and boss of the Medellin cartel, who was killed by police in 1993.
Belvedere is pictured wearing a cap and a white tee-shirt with a Shamrock on it crouched beside the grave of infamous drug lord.
The fugitive, who served as an intermediary with Colombian drug gangs, was arrested after almost four years on the run.
Despite fleeing Europe to evade trafficking charges, he continued to be "active in the organisation of drug shipments from South America to Europe", police said.
Belvedere, who is believed to be around 32-years-old, was on the Italian government's list of most dangerous fugitives, having worked with the Casalesi, who are part of the notorious Camorra mafia-type organisation.
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Belvedere had been sentenced to almost 19 years in jail for international drug trafficking but has been on the run since December 2020.
Europol worked alongside Colombian investigators to track Belvedere down in Medellín that was the base for the Medellín cartel, Pablo Escobar's infamous drug operation.
Established in the 1970s, it supplied an estimated 80% of the global cocaine market at its peak and was so sophisticated that Escobar was on a Forbes list of global billionaires for seven years, before he was shot dead.
The Italian police photo of Belvedere squatting beside Escobar's tomb has been compared to an infamous photo of Escobar who posed in front of the White House in Washington DC while still overseeing the Medellín cartel
The arrest comes about three months after a Norwegian man accused of leading a crime ring that trafficked cocaine from South America to Europe on sailboats was captured in Colombia.
Pazooki Farhad — dubbed "The Professor" — was detained at El Dorado airport, while his alleged right-hand man and fellow Norwegian Bernsten Bjarte was captured in the Caribbean coastal city of Barranquilla, police said.
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