In the northern city of Genoa, police made an arrest at a cathedral of the suspected boss of one of the largest mafia syndicates in Italy.
Police have been searching for Pasquale Bonavota since 2018 after he evaded an arrest warrant for murder and mafia ties.
Police claim that the 49-year-old is the infamous ‘Ndrangheta mafia’s leader. The organization is reportedly in charge of the majority of Europe’s cocaine supply and is the most powerful mafia family in Italy.
According to local media sources, Pasquale Bonavota, referred to as the “baby boss” by the newspaper La Stampa, was at the city’s cathedral when he was apprehended and was in possession of a phony ID. In an ongoing “maxi-trial,” more than 300 persons are accused of participating in organized crime. He is one of the defendants in this trial.
In that situation, Pasquale Bonavota is described as a leader who “took the most important decisions” alongside other top ‘Ndrangheta chiefs and “looked after the interests of the association in the Rome area and the gambling sectors and drug trafficking”, according to a report from the AFP news agency.
After 30 years on the lam, Sicilian mafia lord Matteo Messina Denaro was famously apprehended in January, three months after his arrest.
The ‘Ndrangheta criminal organization is centered on familial clans, or ‘ndrine, who historically held power over the mountaintop villages in Calabria’s southern region.
Even though the Cosa Nostra in Sicily and the Camorra in and around Naples are more well-known on a global scale, both have been weakened by an ongoing police crackdown.
The ‘Ndrangheta has replaced them and is now the most powerful mafia in Italy. It has branches all over the world, from South America to Australia, and it has an estimated yearly revenue of about $60 billion (£49 billion).
They dominate the global market, specializing in trafficking cocaine, and are considered to be in charge of up to 80% of the cocaine trade in Europe.
