Police have arrested Marcello
Pesce, a top member of Calabria's 'Ndrangheta mafia, in the
Calabrian town of Rosarno, sources said on Thursday.
Pesce, who is known as 'U Ballerinu' (the dancer) because of
his fondness for strutting his stuff in the Milanese 'movida'
nightlife scene, is believed to be the "strategic leader",
police said, of the Pesce clan, one of the most powerful of all
'Ndrangheta groups.
The clan operates in the Piana di Gioia Tauro area of
Calabria and has offshoots in northern Italy, especially
Lombardy.
Pesce, who was wanted for mafia association, was not found in
an underground bunker as is usual in these cases but in an
all-mod-cons apartment in the centre of Rosarno, with copies of
Proust and Sartre on his bedside table.
Pesce, who had been on the run since 2010, had been sentenced
on appeal to 16 years and eight months.
He was among the most wanted 'Ndrangheta fugitives.
Among his other activities, Pesce was said to have used a
football club to reap "social consensus".
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