By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
BOGOTA, Colombia – Italian drug lord Roberto Pannunzi, one of Europe’s most wanted drug traffickers and the world’s biggest cocaine importer, was arrested in Colombia on July 5th.
Roberto Pannunzi, 65, was caught in a Bogota shopping center and identified himself with a fake Venezuelan identification card bearing the name Silvano Martino, the Colombian Defense Ministry announced on Twitter. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) worked with Colombian police to find and arrest Pannunzi.
Less than 24 hours after his arrest in Colombia, he was deported and put on a plane from Bogota to Italy. An extradition order would have taken several months. Pannunzi was arrested by Italian police upon his arrival at Rome’s Fiumicino airport.
He was known as the “Pablo Escobar of Italy,” Colombian Defense Ministry said in a twitter post. Pannunzi is accused of importing between two and three tons of cocaine into Europe each month from South America, according to the defense ministry.
Pannunzi, known as Bebè (baby), is linked to the ‘Ndrangheta crime network which is based in the southern Italian region of Calabria. He is credited with soldering the link between the ‘Ndrangheta and Colombia’s Medellin cartels that has turned the ‘Ndrangheta into Italy’s richest and most feared organized crime syndicate according to Italian authorities.
Though often described as a mobster, Pannunzi is not known to have taken part in crimes of violence. Evidence pieced together from various investigations suggested his role was to collect guarantees of payment from various ‘Ndrangheta clans to pay for a shipment of cocaine from South America. Pannunzi would then broker the deal with the Colombians.
“He is the biggest cocaine importer in the world,” said Nicola Gratteri, deputy chief prosecutor in the Reggio Calabria province. “I hope there will be no more concessions, as in the past. And I say it because it is exhausting to have to go and search the world for Pannunzi every time he escapes,” said Gratteri.
Roberto Pannunzi was first detained in Colombia in 1994 and extradited to Italy but was released when his detention order expired. He was re-captured in 2004 in Madrid and handed over again to Italian authorities. He was tried and given a sentence of more than 16 years. In 2010, he staged a dramatic escape from a private hospital in Rome after being transferred there from jail on health grounds.
For more information please see:
The Guardian – Cocaine ‘broker’ Roberto Pannunzi back in jail in Italy after arrest in Colombia – 7 July 2013
El Tiempo – Así cayó el narco más buscado del mundo – 6 July 2013
BBC – Colombia deports Calabrian mafia boss Pannunzi to Italy– 6 July 2013
Reuters – Italy’s most wanted drug trafficker arrested in Colombia – 6 July 2013
Univision Noticias – Era el narcotraficante más buscado en Europa, pero cayó en Colombia – 5 July 2013
