A former fugitive Italian crime clan boss, accused of international drug trafficking, has been extradited from Brazil to Italy.
In June last year, Vincenzo Macri’s two years on the run ended when he showed authorities an identity document using a false name at Sao Paulo airport.
At the time of his capture, Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti hailed the arrest of Macri, whom he described as a top boss of the Commisso crime clan, based in Siderno, Calabria.
He was arrested upon his arrival in Italy today. Here, Macri is flanked by police officials following his extradition
He was today extradited to Rome and arrested upon his arrival in Italy, according to Italian media reports, where he was described as ‘the refined son of Antonio Macri, who allegedly ran the drug trade between South America and Europe’.
Macri, 53, dubbed the ‘boss of two worlds’, was a leading member of the powerful clan of the ‘Ndrangheta operating in Siderno (Reggio Calabria).
Macri was to be taken immediately to prison, within the Calabrian judicial authority’s jurisdiction.
At the time of his capture last year, Italian media said Macri had planned to fly to Caracas, Venezuela, where he was believed to have been living. The reports described him as playing a role as a broker in international cocaine deals for the ‘ndrangheta, one of the world’s leading cocaine traffickers.
Italian mafia boss Vincenzo Macri, part of the clan Commisso of Siderno, pictured above during the flight from Sao Paolo to Rome
Authorities said Macri inherited the mantle of his father, Antonio Macri, an alleged clan chieftain.
Macri was about 10 years old when his father was slain in Calabria in 1975 after a bocce ball game during a bloody ‘ndrangheta clan feud.
The elder Macri had been given the moniker ‘boss of two worlds’ for close international ties to alleged mobsters across two continents.
Brazilian federal police said that between 2004 and 2015, Vincenzo Macri was part of an international criminal organization that imported and trafficked cocaine and hashish, from Morocco, the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic.
The drugs arrived in Italy via shipping containers.
Macri had been on the run since 2015, when Italian authorities accused him of international drug trafficking and Mafia association.
A top Italian police official, Alessandro Giuliano, credited ‘excellent, long-established cooperation’ with US federal agents in helping to capture Macri in Brazil.
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera said FBI agents had arrested Macri in 1990 for drug trafficking, and that he served a prison sentence until the early 2000s.
Later he moved to the Netherlands, where he ran a floral business.