A convicted Italian mafia killer who had been on the run since 2006 was apprehended in France after at least three years of remaining undetected as a pizza cook.
The arrest of Edgardo Greco in Saint-Étienne by Italian authorities marks the second notable mafia arrest in recent weeks.
After 30 years on the run, Matteo Messina Denaro was also arrested while visiting a hospital in Sicily.
Both men were wanted after for committing gruesome killings in the 1990s.
While Messina Denaro was the “boss of bosses” for Sicily’s notorious Cosa Nostra, Greco was part of the ‘Ndrangheta organised crime mob who originate from the Calabria region in Italy’s deep south.
Currently, the ‘Ndrangheta is the most powerful mafia in Italy, and its influence extends to South America and Europe.
Greco, 63, was wanted for the murder of two brothers during a “mafia war” between two gangs in the early 1990s.
Later that year in the same town, Greco, who was part to a rival gang, was then charged with the attempted murder of another man.
In 2006, Greco fled after a trial judge issued a warrant for his arrest.
Eight years later, he settled in the French city of Saint-Étienne, south-west of Lyon, eventually taking up the job of pizzaiolo in an Italian restaurant with a new identity, calling himself Paolo Dimitrio.
However, he was so certain of his new identity by July 2021 that he made an appearance in a local newspaper article, boasting about his restaurant’s “regional and home-made recipe”.
According to a statement from the Italian military police, the Carabinieri, since 2019 investigators had traced Greco’s support network, which ultimately led them across the Alps to Saint-Étienne.
According to Interpol, the anti-‘Ndrangheta operation also became involved, with French police keeping an eye on Greco’s whereabouts. Italian police then confirmed his identity and moved in to arrest him.
Matteo Piantedosi, the interior minister of Italy, hailed the police for apprehending one of the country’s worst criminals, while Roberto Occhiuto, the governor of the Calabria region, said the arrest demonstrated Italy’s dedication to the fight against organized crime in all its manifestations.
Author-Roberta Appiah
