{"id":6074,"date":"2013-07-06T13:26:31","date_gmt":"2013-07-06T13:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/worlds-biggest-cocaine-dealer-arrested\/"},"modified":"2013-07-06T13:26:31","modified_gmt":"2013-07-06T13:26:31","slug":"worlds-biggest-cocaine-dealer-arrested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/worlds-biggest-cocaine-dealer-arrested\/","title":{"rendered":"World\u2019s biggest cocaine dealer arrested"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An Italian mafia capo alleged to be the biggest cocaine trafficker in the world will be deported to Italy on Saturday, a day after being arrested in a Colombian shopping mall, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

Roberto Pannunzi was detained in Bogota with a fake Venezuelan identity card in a joint operation by Colombian police together with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).<\/p>\n

“He is the biggest cocaine importer in the world,” said Nicola Gratteri, deputy chief prosecutor in Reggio Calabria in southern Italy.<\/p>\n

“He is the only one who can organise purchases and sales of cocaine shipments of 3,000 kilos (6,600 pounds) and up,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Pannunzi is the only one who can sell both to the ‘Ndrangheta and to Cosa Nostra. He is definitely the most powerful drug broker in the world,” he said.<\/p>\n

The ‘Ndrangheta is based in Calabria and is a major player in international drug trafficking. The Sicilian mafia is known as Cosa Nostra.<\/p>\n

Gratteri said Pannunzi was being deported since “an extradition order would have taken several months”.<\/p>\n

He is expected to land at Rome’s Fiumicino airport later on Saturday.<\/p>\n

In April, Colombia captured another suspected top mafioso, Domenico Trimboli, alleged to be a lynchpin between the Medellin drug cartel and the ‘Ndrangheta.<\/p>\n

Pannunzi had escaped from a Rome clinic where he was being held under house arrest in 2010 — repeating an earlier escape in the same way in 1999.<\/p>\n

He was previously been detained in Colombia in 1994, when he reportedly offered the arresting officers a million dollars in cash to walk away.<\/p>\n

Gratteri said that during Friday’s arrest, Pannunzi had told the police he was ill but he said he hoped the alleged trafficker would not be granted house arrest in a hospital in Italy again.<\/p>\n

“I hope that he is not given house arrest a third time because he could attempt a third escape.<\/p>\n

“It’s exhausting having to go around the world to find him every time he escapes,” Gratteri said.<\/p>\n

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