Brazil police arrest Italian mafia members

They were linked to drug trafficking and had been runaways since 2014

Published on 08/07/2019 - 16:10 By Fernanda Cruz - São Paulo

Brazil’s Federal Police arrested two Italian nationals, father and son, suspected of being the South American branch of the Italian mafia, known as Ndrangheta.

The ring was formed in the region of Calabria, southwest Italy, and is believed to control 40 percent of all of the world’s shipments of cocaine, thus Europe’s biggest criminal importing scheme. They had been searched by the police since 2014, and are known to have stayed in Portugal and Spain.

One of the inmates had been convicted of drug trafficking and criminal organization for drug trafficking, and had been handed a sentence of 14 years in jail. They occupied at least three apartments in a luxury penthouse in Praia Grande, coastal São Paulo state.

Guns and money

The police found two pistols, money in cash, and vehicles with the suspects. The two arrest warrants were issued by Brazil’s Supreme Court at the request of Federal Police representatives with Interpol, in cooperation with Italy’s Central Directorate for Anti-drug Services in Brazil.

On Twitter, Brazil’s Justice and Public Security Minister Sergio Moro praised the Federal Police operation. “Brazil should be no shelter for criminals,” he wrote.

Translation: Fabrício Ferreira -  Edition: Valéria Aguiar / Augusto Queiroz

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