HomeNewsBriefFugitive Italian Latest Foreign Crime Boss Captured in Uruguay
BRIEF

Fugitive Italian Latest Foreign Crime Boss Captured in Uruguay

COCAINE EUROPE / 8 SEP 2017 BY PARKER ASMANN EN

An Italian crime boss and one of Italy's most wanted criminals has been arrested in Uruguay after decades on the run, highlighting another case in which an international criminal has sought refuge in the country.

On September 3, authorities arrested Rocco Morabito -- the so-called "cocaine king" of the 'Ndrangheta crime organization based in the Calabria region of southwest Italy -- at a hotel in the capital city of Montevideo in southern Uruguay, according to an Interior Ministry press release

Interpol issued a red notice for Morabito in 1994, after he fled the country following his conviction of criminal association, drug trafficking and other serious crimes between 1988 and 1994, according to an Italian Interior Ministry press release.

After six months of intelligence gathering, authorities in Uruguay discovered that Morabito had obtained an Uruguayan identification card using a Brazilian passport with a false name. They used this to track his movements and locate him. 

SEE ALSO: Coverage of European Organized Crime

In two raids at Morabito's home in Punta del Este -- just east of Montevideo and where he had allegedly been living for the past 10 years -- and a storage unit, authorities seized $54,251 in cash, 2,540 Uruguayan pesos (around $88), 150 photos of Morabito with different "clothes and skin tones," as well as a Glock 9 mm pistol, among other things. 

Morabito was allegedly responsible for organizing logistics for the transport of drug shipments within Italy and distribution in Milan for the 'Ndrangheta -- a violent criminal organization with links to Mexico's Zetas and Gulf Cartel, the "Tony Montana" of Peru and several other criminal groups in Latin America, El Pais reported.

Specifically, Morabito is accused of attempting to transport 592 kilograms of cocaine from Brazil into Italy in 1992, as well as organize the transport of two cocaine shipments into Italy in 1993, the first of 32 kilograms and the other of 630 kilograms, according to authorities in Uruguay. 

InSight Crime Analysis 

Rocco Morabito is just the latest case of the region's criminals settling in this Southern Cone nation to elude prosecution or unsuspectingly conduct illicit activities outside of their primary country of operation. In 2016, authorities in Uruguay arrested several suspects linked to Mexico's little-known Los Cuinis crime group, thought to have links to the powerful Jalisco Cartel - New Generation (Cartel de Jalisco - Nueva Generación). One of the group's members -- who also reportedly lived in Punta del Este -- was thought to have been laundering money for the group through real estate investments in Uruguay.

SEE ALSO: Uruguay News and Profile

Uruguay's allure comes from the country long being thought of as one of Latin America's safest and least homicidal nations, in addition to being a "major money laundering" hub, according to the US State Department's 2017 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR).

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BRAZIL / 10 JUL 2021

Brazil has seen its fair share of new synthetic drugs, but the latest hit, known as “love honey,” may be…

CARTEL OF THE SUNS / 1 SEP 2022

InSight Crime charts the history of cocaine from agricultural extract to the basis of global criminal empires.

COCAINE / 29 JUN 2022

Turkish and foreign law enforcement have seized record quantities of cocaine heading from South America to Turkey, revealing the growing…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…