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Italian druglord Rocco Morabito has broken out of a prison in Uruguay before he could be extradited to Italy.
The mafia boss, nicknamed ‘cocaine king of Milan’ fled the prison with three other detainees, according to Uruguay’s interior ministry.
Morabito was suspected to be the boss of the most powerful organized crime group in Italy.
Based in Calabria, Morabito’s mafia group ‘Ndrangheta, reportedly controls around 80 percent of cocaine trafficking in Europe, according to BBC.
The mob boss was arrested in Uruguay in 2017 after he was found living under a false identity for more than thirteen years.
Charged with international drug trafficking, Morabito was awaiting his extradition to Italy. Before being arrested, the crime lord was living a luxurious life in a large villa located in Punta del Este.
Unfamiliar with his previous life activities, his neighbors knew him as a nice and responsible citizen.
At the time Morabito was arrested, cops found a Brazilian passport under the false name of Francisco Attilio Capelletto Souza, 13 mobile phones, 12 credit cards and a 9mm gun in his possession.
His lawyer said at the time that he was ‘leading a normal life’ and had not been indulged in any crime since 1994.
The Uruguayan police first charged him with living under a fake identity. He was later charged with drug trafficking in 2017, which led to the orders of his extradition to Italy.
However, the 52-year-old drug kingpin pulled out a brazen escape from the Central Prison, Montevideo, with three other prisoners ‘through a hole in the roof of the building.’
After his escape from the jail, Morabito broke into a neighboring farmhouse, the interior ministry reported.
Cops in Uruguay have started a nationwide manhunt and have appealed with the public to share any information that could lead to the arrest of the most wanted crack dealer.
Taking to social media, Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has pledged to get to the bottom of the escape and hunt down the escapees.
“It is disconcerting and serious that a criminal like Rocco Morabito, boss of the ‘Ndrangheta, managed to escape from a jail in Uruguay while he was waiting to be extradited to Italy,” Salvini wrote on Twitter.
“I make two commitments. First: to shed light on evasion procedures, asking for immediate explanations from the Montevideo government. Second: we will continue to hunt down Morabito, wherever he is, to throw him in jail as he deserves.”
The police are also searching for the other three fugitives, who were also waiting for their extradition to Argentina and Brazil.
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