It was another chapter in a true-life story bearing all the best hallmarks of classic mafia movies – daring escapes and exotic islands.
Italian police have confirmed the arrest of prominent fugitive Marco Raduano, the head of a little-known organized crime gang in Foggia, in the Puglia region of southern Italy, known as the “Fourth Mafia.”
The 40-year-old mafia boss escaped from the maximum security wing of Nuoro, in Sardinia, using the time-honored method of knotted bedsheets to shrink the prison walls.
His arrest came as a relief to the authorities, because his escape would have meant a great embarrassment to Italian justice.
Raduano heads one of the most violent mafia gangs in Italy, and was arrested on Thursday evening (1), while he was having dinner in a restaurant with a young woman.
CBS reported:
“Raduano, described as 'dangerous' to Europol's list of the most wanted criminals in Europe was arrested in Bastia on the French island of Corsica.
He had escaped from a maximum security prison in Nuoro, Sardinia, in February 2023. Using sheets to trim the walls. The escape was recorded on surveillance camera footage and shared widely on social media. In the video, Raduano can be seen dangling from the sheets before jumping to the floor and running away.
How does a mafia leader escape from a maximum security prison? He lowers himself with the knotted sheets from the surrounding wall. It happened in Nuoro with the escape of Marco Raduano pic.twitter.com/XJOyWf1OGS
– Marco Fattorini (@MarcoFattorini) February 26, 2023
Raduano's imprisonment was not the only recent setback for the “4th Mafia”, as his right-hand man, Gianluigi Troiano, was arrested near Granada in Spain.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantidosi described these actions as “another strong blow against organized crime.”
“[Raduano] He was serving a 24-year prison sentence for membership in a criminal organization, drug trafficking, possession of illegal weapons and other crimes, according to Europol.
A source close to the matter in Corsica told AFP that Raduano was arrested on Thursday evening in Aleria while he was having dinner in a restaurant with a young woman.
Sources say he lived frugally there on false papers and did not resist arrest.
Europol said he was at the head of his own criminal organisation, acting as the promoter, organizer and ruthless killer of the group dedicated to committing murders, drug trafficking and running an extortion racket.
The largest (and legendary) Italian criminal organizations are the wealthy 'Ndrangheta from Calabria, the Camorra based in Naples, and the Cosa Nostra in Sicily.
But the young Fourth Mafia is already today considered the most violent organized crime gang in Italy.
They rely on extortion, drug smuggling, armed robbery, and theft of vehicles and livestock.
Read more:
Maximum trial in Italy: More than 200 mafia members convicted and sentenced in a historic trial targeting the 'Ndrangheta from Calabria
