Italian anti-mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri (center) is surrounded by media as he arrives on Wednesday for the opening of the "Rinascita-Scott" maxi-trial in which more than 350 alleged members of Calabria's 'Ndrangheta mafia group and their associates go on trial in Lamezia Terme, Calabria. Photo: AFP

Italian prosecutors and police on Tuesday cheered the capture in Brazil of a leading mafia boss who has skirted justice in Italy for nearly 30 years.

Rocco Morabito, No.2 on the Italian interior ministry's most dangerous fugitives list, was arrested Monday in northeast Brazil. 

His capture came almost two years after his audacious escape from a prison in Uruguay, where he was awaiting extradition to Italy.

Morabito, who is considered a "capo" or captain of the 'Ndrangheta organized crime group - was found in the city of Joao Pessoa along with another Italian fugitive, following a global operation involving Italy, Uruguay and the US.

Dubbed "the king of cocaine," he has been wanted since 1994 by Italian authorities, who for decades have been trying to slowly chip away at the 'Ndrangheta, the country's most powerful mob syndicate whose tentacles reach far beyond its historical base of the Calabria region.

Morabito is "one of the most important brokers in narco-trafficking," said Giovanni Bombardieri, chief prosecutor in the southern Italian city of Reggio Calabria. 

Investigations begun immediately after his prison escape in 2019 indicated that Morabito was in Brazil, said Pasquale Angelosanto, commander of Italy's carabinieri special operations unit.

AFP