Brazilian
police have captured Pasquale Scotti, one of the most wanted mobsters in Italy,
officials have said. The fugitive had started a new life in Brazil after
changing his name and appearance.
Deutsche Welle, 27 May 2015
Pasquale
Scotti was arrested in the northeastern Brazilian city of Recife, in a joint
operation with Interpol, Brazilian police announced Tuesday. The former boss of
the Camorra crime syndicate had been on the run since the mid-1980s, and was
convicted for more than 20 homicides by an Italian court.
The 56-year
old Scotti was seized while driving his two teenage daughters to school,
according to the AFP news agency.
Before his
arrest, Scotti had been living in Recife for 28 years, under a name of
Francisco de Castro Visconti. He used false identification, taxpayer and voter
registration documents, and apparently underwent several plastic surgery
procedures, the police have said.
The
fugitive has also married a Brazilian woman, and owned a real estate and a fireworks
company.
The man
told the police that not even his Brazilian family knew his true identity, and
that he wanted to "forget his past; that Pasquale Scotti no longer
existed. Only Francisco de Castro exists," according to the head of
Interpol's Brazilian operation, Federal olice officer Valdecy Urquiza Junior.
The former
mafia boss also said that he left Italy out of fear of being killed.
Escape from
the hospital
Italian
authorities managed to arrest Scotti, a known member of Naples mafia, after a
shootout in 1983. Scotti has suffered several gunshot during the gun battle.
On
Christmas Eve of 1984, he managed to escape the hospital where he was treated
after signing a plea bargain. Despite a series of raids and road blocks,
Italian police were not able to locate him.
"He
left no traces. It's as if he vanished," Italian police were quoted as
saying in a La Repubblica article from the time.
The Camorra
chief was later convicted in absentia by an Italian court for illegal
possession of firearms, extortion and dozens of murders.
Italy's
most wanted
On Tuesday,
Brazilian police said that Scotti was indentified by comparing archived
fingerprints. The Italian authorities have started the process leading to his
extradition, officials have said.
Italian
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano praised the arrest as an
"extraordinary" success, underling that Scotti was among the most sought and dangerous fugitives on Italy's most-wanted list.
dj/rc (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)
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