Suspected mafioso arrested in France after 16 years on the run

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

Edgardo Greco, 63, an alleged member of the Calabrian mafia – the ‘Ndrangheta – was arrested Thursday morning.

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

Greco was arrested by the French police on the basis of information from the Italian carabinieri, which was 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 important joint operation.

“Law enforcement activity is unceasingly engaged day in and day out in silence, in Italy and abroad, in a continuous work to ensure the safety of citizens,” he said on Twitter. “Strong action by the state against all forms of organized crime” will be continued “with determination”.

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

He was reportedly a member of the Perna-Pranno clan, the most important in the town of Cosenza, where he lived.

“He is considered jointly responsible for the ambush of January 5, 1991 that killed the brothers Stefano and Giuseppe B. who wanted more autonomy and attention between the clans of Cosenza,” said 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,” the Carabinieri statement said.