An Italian fugitive and convicted killer accused of belonging to the ‘Ndrangheta, one of Italy’s most prominent organized criminal groups, was apprehended this week after more than 16 years on the run, including time spent working in a pizza restaurant in France, according to Interpol.
Edgardo Greco, 63, an Italian state fugitive, was apprehended Thursday in Saint-Etienne following joint efforts by Italian and French officials, as reported by Interpol. During a “mafia war” in the early 1990s, Greco was given a life sentence in absentia in Italy for crimes including a double homicide and attempted murder.
Greco escaped temporary police custody in 2006 after an arrest warrant was issued for the 1991 murders of brothers Stefano and Giuseppe Bartolomeo, whose bodies were suspected to have been dissolved in acid, according to Italy’s national Carabinieri police.
The Italian fugitive, allegedly a member of the Perna-Pranno gang, was “untraceable” for years, according to the Carabinieri, during which time he took up residence in a French town near Lyon and eventually built his own pizzeria.
In 2021, Greco was featured in a local newspaper under the alias Paolo Dimitrio, selling the restaurant’s original Italian cuisine; “I only want to offer regional and homemade recipes,” he informed Le Progres at the time.
This week, following Greco’s early morning arrest, a magistrate in Lyon formally advised him of Italy’s arrest order before detaining him.
‘Ndrangheta: hunting members of a larger mafia than La Cosa Nostra 01:41
The ‘Ndragheta organization, headquartered in southern Calabria, is thought to have activities on every continent with strong linkages to the cocaine trafficking in South America and Europe.
According to Interpol, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi stated that the arrest highlighted the country’s commitment to “fighting all forms of organized crime and locating dangerous fugitives,”
Greco is the second mafia-related fugitive to make headlines this month, following the arrest of most-wanted Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro at a private Sicilian clinic following a 30-year chase. Andrea Bonafede, his suspected accomplice and the man whose identity Denaro assumed, was caught shortly thereafter.
Interpol’s Secretary General Jurgen Stock stated, “No matter how hard fugitives try to live a quiet life abroad, they cannot forever evade justice. Devoted officers around the world will always ensure that justice is served.”
»Mafia killer apprehended after 16 years on the run, convicted while making pizzas«