Most wanted trafficker deported

Roberto Pannunzi, 67, suspected mafia boss and Europe's most wanted drug trafficker has been arrested and deported to Italy after three years on the run.

The man was apprehended in Venezuela at a shopping centre in Bogota. He was in possession of a fake Venezuelan identity card. He was put on a plane from Bogota and Italian police arrested him at Rome's Fiumicino airport yesterday evening.

The Italian authorities claim he imported an average of two tonnes of cocaine into Europe monthly. The accused is suspected to be linked to the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta and is believed to be the only drug dealer managing to sell cocaine to 'Ndrangheta, Cosa Nostra and the Camorra. The criminal organisation 'Ndrangheta is a close associate of the Colombian drug cartels.

Previously the Italian police had managed to arrest him twice but he had managed to abscond. In 1999, Pannunzi escaped from an Italian clinic while under house arrest. He was arrested in Madrid in 2004. Six years later, in 2010, he escaped from a hospital in Rome.

Italian anti-Mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri claimed the man travelled with a suitcase full of money to corrupt captors. He also wore a diamond necklace as a back up currency to secure his freedom.