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Marital row exposes mafia fugitive, Milan’s ‘king of cocaine’, in Uruguay

Fugitive Italian mafia boss Rocco Morabito had split from his wife and was searching for a new apartment when he was arrested by Uruguayan police, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

Published: 6 September 2017 08:41 CEST
Marital row exposes mafia fugitive, Milan's 'king of cocaine', in Uruguay
The home where mafia boss Rocco Morabito lived in Uruguay.

Morabito, dubbed in Italian media reports as the one-time “king of cocaine” in Milan, was arrested at a hotel in downtown Montevideo in a dawn raid by police on Saturday.

He had taken a room in the hotel while he looked for new lodgings in the Uruguayan capital after he had fought with his wife, his lawyer Alejandro Balbi said.

Local media said registering for new accommodation would have helped expose Morabito, who had been on the run for 23 years.

Now Uruguay authorities are investigating how he managed to quietly live in the resort town of Punta del Este for the past 13 years without being detected. So far their investigation has found that he had obtained Uruguayan residence papers after presenting a Brazilian passport in the name of Francisco Capeletto in 2004.

Until their recent separation, Morabito had lived with his wife – an Angolan national with a Portuguese passport named as Paula Maria De Oliveira Correia – and their daughter, according to the interior ministry.

By all accounts, he lived a quiet life in Punta del Este, a resort known as a playground for South America's rich about 90 minutes drive north of Montevideo.

Italy's 'most wanted mafioso' arrested in Uruguay
Punta del Este. File photo: xura/Depositphotos

However, last February he threw a big coming-of-age party for his daughter who was turning 15 – a tradition in Uruguay – inviting classmates and their parents to one of the town's trendy venues.

It seems the Uruguayan authorities had begun to take notice around then. The interior ministry said his arrest was part of a police operation code-named Calabria which began in March.

Low Profile

Morabito, a capo with the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, Italy's most feared organized crime gang, is being held in a Montevideo prison, accused of forging identity documents, pending the arrival of an extradition request from Italy.

The Italian justice ministry said extradition documents are being prepared. Morabito's family had been renting a house in a well-heeled part of Punta del Este since last June, the owner of the property Daniel Puig told AFP.

Real-estate broker Puig met Morabito three years ago when he sold him a 600-hectare country estate with a Tuscan-style farmhouse located some 40 kilometers from Punta del Este. The family lived there until last year.

READ ALSO: How the brutal murder of an anti-mafia hero marked a turning point for SicilyStatue of slain anti-mafia prosecutor decapitated in Palermo

Photo: AFP

Puig and other Punta del Este residents were stunned to learn of the real identity of their acquaintance.

“He's not a drug dealer type, someone who goes out to restaurants, having a luxury car. He was low profile,” Puig said. Morabito even drove around in a “super modest Chinese car.”

“He was a good person. He lived for his daughter,” he said.

According to a man who worked for the family, Oliveira was an enthusiastic buyer of artworks, and the estate had many paintings, dinnerware and expensive objects.

Morabito, on the other hand, “liked to cook. The kitchen was full of spices,” said the man, who wished to remain anonymous.

Another neighbor described Oliveira as “an elegant lady, she seemed high-class. She wasn't nouveau riche. And she didn't speak about him.”

Oliveira has made no comment and has reportedly taken refuge in a hotel with her daughter.

King of Cocaine

Morabito arrived in trendy Milan from his hometown of Africo in Italy's poor southern region of Calabria at the age of 23, and quickly carved out a reputation as the city's “king of cocaine”.

Nicknamed 'U Tamunga' in reference to a German military vehicle, the Dkw Munga, in Milan the young Morabito became a charismatic figure who frequented bars and parties, according to Italian press reports.

He quickly came to the attention of Italian anti-Mafia investigators and they regularly tracked him delivering suitcases filled with millions of lira to Colombian drug traffickers in a Milan piazza.

Police finally moved in on his birthday as he made what would be his last delivery, in October 1994, but the capo managed to escape.

The following year he was sentenced in absentia to 28 years' imprisonment for mafia association and drug trafficking. Later the sentence was extended to 30 years.

By Leticia Pineda

 

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CRIME

REVEALED: Where in Italy you’re most likely to be a victim of crime

From theft and home burglary to cyber fraud and extortion, the latest figures reveal where in Italy you are most likely to fall victim to crime and the most common types of offences in major cities around the country.

Published: 17 September 2024 11:15 CEST
REVEALED: Where in Italy you're most likely to be a victim of crime

While Italy is among the safest countries in the world – it ranked 33rd out of 163 in the latest Global Peace Index report, right above the UK – crime is still a concern, especially in metropolitan cities and tourist hotspots.

According to the annual crime report from newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, which collated the most recent data from Italy’s Department of Public Security, Milan was the Italian city with the highest crime rate in 2023.

Overall, some 230,394 crimes were reported in the northern metropolis last year, which corresponded to 7,094 offences for every 100,000 residents.

Milan was followed by Italy’s capital, Rome, with 6,071 reported crimes for every 100,000 residents (up by nearly 600 compared to 2022) and Florence, with 6,053.

The top ten was completed by Rimini (6,002 reports for every 100,000 residents), Turin (5,685), Bologna (5,539), Prato (4,887), Imperia (4,838), Venice (4,825) and Livorno (4,743).

At the other end of the spectrum, Oristano, Sardinia, was the Italian city with the lowest crime rate in 2023 as it ‘only’ saw 1,511 offences for every 100,000 residents. 

Oristano was followed by Potenza, Basilicata (1,934) and Treviso, Veneto (2,258).

Single-offence rankings

While the overall crime rate ranking provides a picture of Italy’s major crime hotspots, it doesn’t allow for any insight into the types of offences committed locally, which is why it is worth looking into single-offence rankings. 

Milan, Rome and Rimini (a popular seaside resort on Emilia Romagna’s Adriatic coast) were the Italian cities with the highest theft rates in 2023, with the northern city registering nearly 3,900 reported thefts (furti) for every 100,000 residents and the capital stopping just shy of the 3,500 mark.

Milan was also Italy’s least-safe city when it came to petty theft and pickpocketing, with over 900 such offences reported for every 100,000 residents.

READ ALSO: How bad is pickpocketing in Italy’s major cities?

Florence was the Italian city with the highest robbery rate (rapine), with 136 offences for every 100,000 residents. 

The Tuscan city was followed by Milan (128) and Prato (124).

Outside of big cities and popular tourist destinations, a number of smaller and, perhaps, slightly unassuming Italian cities had their own crime ‘specialisations’ in 2023. 

For instance, Ragusa, Sicily, ranked first in vehicle theft, while Pisa, Tuscany, came in first in reported home burglary offences.

Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia, had the highest sexual assault rate (24 reports for every 100,000 residents) in the country, whereas Crotone ranked first for attempted murder.

READ ALSO: The 8 red flags to look out for to avoid rental scams in Italy

Turin came in first for cyber fraud and online scams, while Isernia, Molise, was Italy’s extortion capital. 

National picture

At a national level, reported crimes were up by 3.8 percent compared to 2022, with online fraud and robbery registering 10.3- and 9.5-percent increases respectively. 

Assault offences also registered a 3.1-percent year-on-year increase, while there were 341 murders in 2023 – up by 13 against 2019. 

According to Marco Dugato, a researcher at the Crime Observatory of Milan’s Cattolica University, the latest increases “must be monitored, particularly for certain types of crime”.

In particular, “the rise of more impulsive, less planned, but more aggressive forms of criminal activity” such as assault and robbery “is of concern”. 

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