An Italian fugitive accused of coordinating the large-scale delivery of cocaine cargo from Latin America to Europe has been arrested in Colombia.
The Colombian National Police Chief described Emmanuel Gregorini, also known as the “head of Italian Mafiaratin America.”
He said Gregorini was pursued into an apartment in the seaside city of Cartagena in a multinational operation that included investigators from Italy, Britain and Colombia.
He described him as an alliance between Kamora, Kosa Nostra and the ‘ndrangheta Mafia group since 2023 when prosecutors accused him of being a key figure in the “Lombardy Mafia System.”
Police have accused Gregorini of playing a key role in organizing cocaine shipments from Colombian port cities in Cartagena, Baranquila and Santa Marta to Europe.
Columbia Police Chief Carlos Triana said Gregorini’s arrest was a “serious blow” to a cross-border crime syndicate.
He also described him as an “invisible drug.”
Surveillance footage issued by Columbia authorities showed him going to the gym and visiting a local restaurant in a luxury neighborhood where he had rented his apartment without fear of being obviously recognized.
Prosecutors say his arrest in Colombia points to an increasing presence of the Italian mafia in Latin America.
Rather than relying on intermediaries, European crime networks have established their own drug smuggling routes in South America, according to Insight Crime, a think tank specializing in organized crime.
Italian mafia groups in particular have expanded their presence in Colombia and Brazil in recent years, says think tanks.
In October, Luigi Belvedere, one of Italy’s most wanted men, was taken into custody in the city of Medellin, where he was posing next to the tomb of the late Colombian drug lord, Pablo Escobar.
