A Calabrian Ndrangheta drug lord has been extradited from Brazil to Italy after being arrested last year, Interpol and Italian authorities said today, as quoted by AFP.

The man in question is Rocco Morabito, who was pursued by Italian authorities for drug trafficking for 27 years before he was arrested last May in northeastern Brazil.

Morabito has a 30-year prison sentence in Italy in absentia.

Interpol issued a red notice for his arrest.

He was "one of the most wanted criminals in the world," the Lyon-based organization for international police cooperation said in a statement.

Morabito's extradition "sends a strong message: as powerful as the mafia's criminal network is, our global police network is stronger," said Giovanni Bombardieri, head of the specialized anti-mafia prosecutor's office in Reggio di Calabria.

Morabito was previously arrested in September 2017 in Uruguay, but managed to escape from prison in June 2019, BTA notes.

Members of the 'Ndrangheta were sentenced in Calabria

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