Italian fugitive emanuele Gregorini arrested in Colombia

An Italian fugitive accused of having coordinated the sending of large loads of cocaine from Latin America to Europe has been arrested in Colombia.

The Chief of National Police of Colombia described Emanuele Gregorini, known as “Dollarino”, as “the Head of the Italian Mafia of Latin America.”

He said that Gregorini had been tracked to an apartment in the coastal city of Cartagena in a multinational operation that included Italian, British and Colombian researchers.

He had been fleeing since 2023, when prosecutors accused him of being a key figure in the “Lombardy mafia system”, which they described as an alliance between the Camorra, Nostra and ‘Ndrangheta Mafia groups.

Police accuse Gregorini of having a key role in the organization of cocaine shipments of the Colombian port cities of Cartagena, Barranquilla and Santa Marta to Europe.

The Colombian police chief Carlos Triana said that Gregorini’s arrest was “a severe blow” for transnational crime unions.

He also described him as an “invisible narco”, which did not attract attention to himself.

The surveillance images published by the Colombian authorities showed him to go to the gym and visit local restaurants in the exclusive neighborhood where he had rented an apartment, apparently without fear of being recognized.

Prosecutors say that their arrest in Colombia points to a greater presence of the Italian mafia in Latin America.

According to Insight CrimeA group of experts specialized in organized crimes, European criminal networks have been establishing their own drug smuggling routes in South America instead of depending on intermediaries.

The Italian mafia groups in particular have expanded their presence in Colombia and Brazil in recent years, says the group of experts.

In October, Luigi Belvedere, one of Italy’s most wanted men, was arrested in the city of Medellín, where he had posed next to the tomb of the deceased Colombian drug trafficker, Pablo Escobar.