TEMPO.CO, Rome - A drug lord described as Europe’s most notorious cocaine dealer arrived in Italy on Sunday night. He was extradited from Columbia to stand trial in his own nation.
Roberto Pannunzi, known as the "Pablo Escobar of Italy", was arrested on Friday night in Bogota during a joint operation by the Columbian police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Also known as "Bebe" and popularly known in Columbia as "el Señor" (gentleman), Pannunzi successfully organized massive shipments of cocaine from South America to Europe but managed to remain relatively anonymous in the criminal underworld.
He gradually became known as the source of top-quality cocaine. "He is the biggest cocaine importer in the world. He is the only one who can organize purchases and sales of cocaine shipments of 3,000 kilos and up," said Nicola Gratteri, deputy chief prosecutor in Reggio Calabria.
Pennunzi is also related to the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta,’ one of the four mafia groups operating in Italy, also considered to be one of the most powerful and dangerous criminal organizations in the world, through a brief marriage with the mob boss’ daughter. He is known for excellence in maintaining good relations with different clans. Unlike the notorious Pablo Escobar, Pennunzi claims he never killed anybody.
Pannunzi was caught twice before and successfully managed to escape. When he was apprehended in Madrid in 2004, he was handed over to the Italian authorities to be tried and jailed. However, the Italian drug lord managed to escape and has been on the run since he walked through the main entrance of a Rome hospital where he was being treated for a heart condition while in police detention in 2010.
TELEGRAPH | TRIP B
