Italian fugitive with Camorra ties betrayed by love for soccer team
A 60-year-old foreign national was arrested Friday afternoon the island of Corfu on an outstanding European arrest warrant issued by the prosecutor’s office in Naples, Italy, for his involvement in a criminal organization and financial crimes, Greek police said Saturday.
The suspect, named by Italian police as Vincenzo La Porta had been evading capture since 2012 and was listed by the Italian Ministry of the Interior as one of the most dangerous fugitives, owing to his connections with the Camorra crime group in Italy.
Italian police did not specify the date of arrest but said officers blocked La Porta going down a Corfu street on a motor scooter.
La Porta appeared before a Corfu prosecutor Saturday and was ordered held until a 3-member panel of appeals court judges rules on the extradition request, which will almost certainly be honored. Once back home, he is due to serve a prison sentence of 14 years and four months
La Porta, considered close to a crime clan of the Naples-based Camorra syndicate, has been convicted in absentia of criminal association, tax evasion and fraud, the Italian police said.
The detection and subsequent arrest of the suspect were the result of a well-coordinated operation led by the International Police Cooperation Division of the Hellenic Police (ELAS).
This operation effectively utilized intelligence information gathering and was carried out with the cooperation of the Italian authorities.
The Associated Press reports that it was La Porta’s passion for his hometown football club that betrayed him.
Naples-based Carabinieri paramilitary police said Saturday the man, who was on Italy’s list of 100 most dangerous fugitives, was spotted in a photo of fans in a restaurant in Corfu, who were celebrating after the Napoli soccer squad clinched Italy’s top league championship a few weeks ago.
Police then headed to Corfu to tail the fugitive.
Police said they had been following La Porta’s online activity, including financial movements, and waited for him to make a false move that could tip them off to his whereabouts.
“Betraying him was his passion for soccer and for the Napoli team,” police said in a statement. ”With the championship victory, La Porta couldn’t resist celebrating.”
Investigators spotted him in a photo of celebrants of the restaurant, where he was holding in his hands a scarf in the sky-blue colors of Napoli.
According to the owner of a different restaurant on the island, La Porta had been working there as an assistant chef for the last month or so.
(Kathimerini/AP)
