The fugitive Vittorio Raso was transferred to police facilities when he was arrested on October 10, 2020 in Barcelona.
The National Court of Justice has given the green light for the extradition of the alleged capo of the Italian mafia ‘Ndrangheta Vittorio Raso to the Italian authorities. According to the police, the national police plan to hand over the arrested man to the Italian police at El Prat airport on Thursday morning. Raso’s whereabouts and arrest in Spain have been disputed. Wanted in his country for extortion and drug trafficking as a leader of the Calabrian mafia, police first arrested him in Barcelona in October 2020, but the National Court wrongly ordered his provisional release. On the run for almost two years, he was arrested again last June by the local police in Castelldefels. Since then he has been in custody pending the court’s decision.
As is usual with this type of extradition, once the National Police agents hand him over to his Italian counterparts at El Prat airport, Raso will travel to his country of origin on a commercial plane, guarded by police officers. Italy had been looking for him since at least 2018 when he was initially staying in Spain in the Malaga area. Under the protection of the Calabrian mafia, the agents could not find him until October 10, 2020. He had moved to Barcelona with false papers, where he lived in a luxury apartment on Diagonal Avenue.
His erroneous release by the National Court caused unease among the National Police. The court argued that Italy’s original arrest request only said that he was wanted for racketeering, and so decided to release him provisionally pending a decision on whether to hand it over to his country. Two hours later, with Raso already released from the cells, the judge received an extension of time that linked him to drug trafficking as head of the ‘Ndrangheta. Police then claimed that his arrest was accompanied from the moment by a report stating that he had been sentenced to 15 and 20 years for extortion and a further 20 years for drug trafficking as a member of the ‘Ndrangheta.
Local Castelldefels police ended his escape on June 22. The agents stopped him at a routine check and upon checking the paperwork, suspected that it was forged and decided to take his fingerprints, triggering the various arrest warrants against him. Without putting up any resistance, Raso was arrested, taken to the Mossos police station and finally handed over to the Supreme National Court.
The ‘Ndrangheta is Italy’s most powerful mafia, with a capacity of around 43,000 million euros a year, according to the Prosecutor’s Office of Catanzaro (southern Italy). It is the organization with the most branches worldwide. The money Raso allegedly raised was intended to feed the criminal organization again.
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