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Arrest in Madrid: 'Ndrangheta boss Domenico Paviglianiti is being taken away by the Spanish police
Photo: Policia Nacional / dpa
Spanish police have arrested senior Italian mafia boss Domenico Paviglianiti.
The head of the 'Ndrangheta from Calabria in southern Italy was caught after months of investigations in Madrid, said the national police.
It was one of the most important mafiosi in Calabria and one of the most wanted criminals in Italy, the investigators said.
The operation was carried out in cooperation with the Italian authorities.
In the Italian media, Paviglianiti was referred to as the "boss of the bosses".
30-year prison term ended prematurely
The 60-year-old is said to have headed the 'Ndrangheta businesses in northern Italy and South America and has previously been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
However, according to the AP news agency, he was released in 2019 because there were errors in the calculation of his sentence.
In January, the Italian was sentenced to more than eleven years and eight months in prison in absentia, according to the AP.
Among other things, he was charged with murder and the formation of a criminal organization.
According to official information, he had been a fugitive for a long time and had stayed with relatives in Barcelona in northeastern Spain in recent months.
In Madrid he had now been picked up with false papers from Portugal.
In addition to the false papers, six cell phones and cash in the amount of 6,000 euros were seized during the campaign, it said.
Most recently, high-ranking 'Ndrangheta member Rocco Morabito was caught in Brazil.
He is considered a key figure in the international cocaine trade.
fek / dpa / AFP / AP
