Mafia boss Rocco Morabito had a good run — and I do mean run. An adult life at the top of his game
followed by 25 years as an international fugitive, most of that living large and in charge
unbothered by his status as one of the world's most wanted men. His life in comfortable subtropical
estates in South America, where he represented the most powerful Italian Mafia organization, was
eventually interrupted by an arrest, which in turn required a daring escape to resume his life on the
lam. But now his run finally seems over and police around the world are mighty pleased about it
The Mob Reporter here with news this week of the triumphant extradition of a big boss
of the 'Ndrangheta, that's the Mafia of Italy's southern region of Calabria, who was hauled in
chains back to Italy from where he fled decades before. It's quite a trip, filled with exotic
travel, daring escapes, false identities, power, corruption and lies. Let me tell you about it
There are many nicknames and labels attached to Rocco Morabito, and most of them come with
superlatives. He's not just a mobster, but a powerful mob boss; not just a narco but
the king of cocaine. He wasn't even just a fugitive. Morabito was, in the police hierarchy
of the global underworld, a superfugitive. To keep things current, let's start at the end
Morabito's decades on the run came to an end on July 6, 2022, when a heavy police guard escorted
him through the busy streets of Brazil to an airport, where a plane from Italy was waiting. Twenty-five
years on the run is quite an achievement. Morabito, now 56, sat at the top of an 'Ndrangheta clan that
bears his family name, one rooted in Africo, in Italy's southern region of Calabria
on the Ionian coast. The modern evolution of the 'Ndrangheta, as it morphed into a global underworld
powerhouse, is reflected through his life. He was at the forefront of expanding the Calabrian
Mafia from its rural roots in the south to the financial centers of Italy's prosperous north
In the 1990s, he was there as one architect of the 'Ndrangheta's internationalization, reaching
across the Atlantic to South American brokers who controlled the distribution of gangland's most
important commodity. He struck lucrative deals in South America both with Colombian cartels
and with Brazil's most powerful crime gang, known as PCC, which stands for the Portuguese equivalent
of the First Command of the Capital. He brought cocaine to Europe by the ton and police declared
him a top international broker. He was supposed to be arrested back in 1994 in a large police
operation targeting the importation of coke from South America. And although he was sentenced to 30
years in prison in Italy, authorities never got him behind those bars. He disappeared
into the wind — a distinctly subtropical wind close to his second home in South America
He eventually settled in Uruguay with his family, where they lived in comfort in the seaside resort
of Punta Del Este. It's nicknamed Beverly Hills. He was living under a false name using forged
documents saying he was Brazilian born. While on the run he was the subject of an Interpol red
notice, but continued coordinating transatlantic operations for the 'Ndrangheta, authorities say. He
slipped up in 2017 when he apparently registered his daughter into school using his real name
A joint probe by U.S., Italian and Uruguayan officials traced him to a hotel in Montevideo,
Uruguay's capital. He was arrested and jailed while he fought extradition
Morabito escaped 1,142 days after his capture. It was a nice bit of daring do
The only known witness to the escape was a senior citizen who lived next door to the prison. She
awoke in the night to find three men standing in the dining room of her apartment. Morabito, who
seemed to be in charge, asked her for the key to get out of her locked apartment. Morabito insisted
they were plumbers come to fix a broken pipe, according to the pensioner's firsthand account at
the time, told to Subrayado, which you can see some of here. He did not raise his voice but insisted
she give him the key. They unlocked the door, took money from her purse, and used it to pay for a taxi
Officials later learned the prisoners — all awaiting extradition to various countries — had crawled
out of a hole on the prison's roof, jumped to a neighboring apartment building, and dropped onto
the balcony of the woman's apartment. Some hinky business with prison officials let that all happen
It took two years to find him again. When authorities caught up with him this time, he
was in northern Brazil. It was May 2021. It was a marquee moment for a new global partnership
run by Interpol, the international criminal police organization. It's called ICAN, short
for Interpol Cooperation Against the 'Ndrangheta. It coordinates with a dozen countries to track
and arrest 'Ndrangheta fugitives. Morabito's 2021 arrest required the cooperation of Italy,
Brazil, Uruguay and the United States, but he wasn't giving up. His extradition was aggressively fought
A Brazil court ordered his extradition but his defense team launched a vigorous appeal
They even sought political asylum for him. Brazil's top tribunal recently rejected those appeals
but did impose restrictions on how Italy could punish him. His sentence could be no more than
30 years and the time he spent in prison must also be considered/ That cleared the way for this week's
flight. The last two years have not been kind to him. He looked a diminished man: thin, frail, gray,
bespectacled, unsure of his footing. It could just be the start of the old mobster ploy of becoming
seriously ill just before trial, but miraculously recovering once granted mercy by the court
Who knows but the timing here is interesting. If Morabito hadn't fled
back in the 90s, he would be getting out of prison just about now, leaving as a free man
As Mafia researcher Anna Sergi notes, it is not just removing Rocco Morabito
from South America that matters now — it's about what he has left behind
His kind of work needed more than muscle. It needs specialized support — help from lawyers,
businessmen, officials, politicians. Establishing a network of these fixers, brokers, and functionaries
is a specialty of the 'Ndrangheta and that network likely remains intact
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