'Ndrangheta, fugitive Strangio captured in Bali

He tried to escape arrest by fleeing to Australia, relying on the fact that, having been a naturalized citizen of that country, he could not be extradited.

But he did not reckon with the determination of the carabinieri of the investigative department of the provincial command of Reggio Calabria, who never let go, waiting for the right moment to intervene.

Moment that occurred on February 2 in Bali, Indonesia.

Thus ended, after 7 years, the fugitive of 32-year-old Antonio Strangio, arrested at the Bali airport by the local police.

Strangio - believed to be linked to the homonymous 'ndrina of San Luca also known as "Janchi" - was affected by the Interpol "Red Notice", the international arrest notice for wanted people all over the world, with the

    An arrest whose importance was underlined by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who highlighted that "the third arrest of dangerous fugitives has been made in the space of a few days, after those of Edgardo Greco and Matteo Messina Denaro". expressing her satisfaction and "the warmest congratulations to all the intelligence, order and police forces that allow these extraordinary results. The fight against crime and against all forms of illegality - added the prime minister - remains a priority objective of the our government".

    Strangio is under investigation in the "Eclissi 2" operation directed by the Reggio DDA and conducted by the carabinieri on charges of having purchased and transported, together with others, 160 kilos of hashish, with the aggravating circumstance of having facilitated the Bellocco-Cimato gang.

The investigation, a continuation of the "Eclipse" operation, had led, in July 2015, to the arrest of 11 subjects believed to belong to gangs in the Vibonese and Reggio area linked to the Belloccos.

    Strangio had disappeared in 2016 and fled to Australia.

The Carabinieri of the Reggio Provincial Command, however, continued to follow his trail with the support of the I-CAN (Interpol Cooperation Against 'Ndrangheta) Unit and the Italian Security Expert in Canberra.

Thanks to web monitoring and social media intelligence, investigators were able to discover that the man had left Australia for Bali, for reasons that have yet to be ascertained, and alerted the Indonesian authorities thus allowing his capture.

    Strangio's arrest follows the capture, which took place in Saint Etienne (France), of Edgardo Greco, a fugitive for 17 years, known as the "chef of the 'Ndrangheta" and sentenced to life imprisonment for double murder.

    The wanted man captured in Bali is the 42nd fugitive arrested worldwide in less than three years since the start of the I Can Project, which involves 13 countries (those most exposed to the threat of the 'Ndrangheta) and which aims, the police underline, to raise in the police forces of those States "awareness of the global danger of the 'Ndrangheta, which until recently was considered an Italian folk phenomenon and not a powerful criminal organization that has made a name for itself all over the world, which operates through encrypted platforms, pay in cryptocurrencies and which pollutes the economic and financial fabric of the realities it 'colonizes'".