Spain has agreed to extradite Vittorio Raso, the alleged mafia boss who disappeared after being released by mistake in 2020, to Italy

Spanish justice he agreed to extradite Vittorio Raso to Italyalleged head of the criminal organization ‘Ndrangueta, the Calabrian mafia, arrested in June in the municipality of Castelldefels, in the province of Barcelona.

The case of Raso is known because he is the alleged leader who vanished after being released by mistake by Spanish justice in 2020 after being arrested in Barcelona.

As sources close to the case confirmed to EFE, on Thursday the Spanish police transferred Raso to the airport of the Catalan capital to proceed with his arrest. delivery to the Italian authoritiesonce his extradition has been authorized.

Following the protocol for this type of case, the Italian police in charge of the transfer will accompany Raso to his country of origin on a commercial flight. Italy had been looking for him at least since 2018when he located it in Malaga, Spain, but only managed to stop it in 2020.

Arrest, wrong release and escape

The case of Vittorio Raso became famous for a comedy of errors between the Italian and Spanish judges which ruled that the man, already detained, was released and consequently he vanished until he was captured again last June.

Raso was initially arrested on 10 October 2020 in a Barcelona neighborhood. When he went to court, however, he was released shortly after, as at the time he was only accused of extortion.

Two hours after his release, they arrived at the courthouse where he had just appeared with new reports new, more serious crimes so Italy asked for his surrender – belonging to a criminal organization and drug trafficking, as well as extortion – but the alleged boss had already fled.

The Spanish national court again ordered his arrest, which was not possible until almost two years later, on 21 June, when they finally managed to capture him.

It was the local police of Castelldefels who, in a routine check, arrested Raso, who was carrying false documents, and, after verifying his fingerprints and verifying that he had different requirements, proceeded to arrest, after which he was sent to prison.

Raso would have had coverage from the ‘Ndrangheta as an important member of its structure, since it is believed that he held the position of “Gospel”, a leading figure within the Calabrian organization that carries out its criminal activity mainly through drug and arms trafficking.

A European arrest and surrender order weighed on Raso for some events that occurred in 2016 when, as part of the ‘ndrangheta, he allegedly extorted victims with threats and violence, for charge 10% monthly interest to people to whom the organization had previously lent a sum of money from which it varied 40,000 and 50,000 euros.

After being arrested in 2020, the Italian police raided several properties related to Raso. in those houses they found 360 thousand eurosmore than 13 kilos of drugs and large ammunition of weapons.

Source: EFE