On Thursday, French police arrested Edgardo Greco, a 63-year-old mafia hitman who had been on the run for 16 years.
He was apprehended in Saint-Étienne, in southeastern France, where he was working as a pizza chef in an Italian restaurant under an assumed identity.
Greco is linked to the notorious ‘ndrangheta crime group in Italy and has been convicted of killing two brothers, Stefano and Giuseppe Bartolomeo, in 1991. The brothers were beaten to death with a metal bar in a fish shop in Calabria and their bodies have never been found. Greco has also been accused of attempted murder in another case.
Interpol, working in collaboration with French and Italian law enforcement, discovered that Greco’s crimes were connected to the “mafia wars” of the early 1990s between the Pino Sena and Perna Pranno organized crime gangs in the Cosenza region of southern Italy. He was sentenced to life in prison for the two murders during the Maxi Trial, which saw hundreds of mafia operatives convicted between 1986 and 1992. Greco evaded a precautionary prison order related to that trial in 2006 and a European Arrest Warrant was issued by the Catanzaro Public Prosecutor’s Office in southern Italy.
The arrest of Edgardo Greco, a notorious mafia hitman, comes just two weeks after the capture of Italy’s most-wanted man, mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro. Both individuals had links to the ‘ndrangheta crime group.
In a statement, Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi stated that no matter how hard criminals try to escape justice, dedicated officers around the world will always ensure that justice is served. He added that the capture of Greco demonstrates the capabilities and commitment of the police forces, who in this case worked in collaboration with the French authorities.
The operation was part of Interpol’s I-CAN project, an Italian-funded initiative launched in 2020 to target the ‘ndrangheta crime group. Interpol reports that the project has led to the arrests of numerous fugitives around the world.
The ‘ndrangheta is considered the most dangerous and powerful Italian crime group with global connections and strong ties to the trade of South American cocaine destined for Europe. In 2021, another mass trial saw 350 alleged ‘ndrangheta members appear in court in Calabria, southern Italy.