‘Ndrangheta boss Vittorio Raso was arrested in Spain on Tuesday June 21, after presenting fake identification documents during a routine traffic stop in Castelldefels in Catalonia.
When the police realized that the documents were forged, they arrested and fingerprinted him – at which point his true identity as a leading figure of the ‘Ndrangheta was revealed.
Raso was then transferred to the Mossos d’Esquadra – the police force of Spain’s Catalonia region – and remains in custody at the police station in nearby Gava.
Raso is wanted for drug trafficking, extortion, and other offenses related to the mafia.
This is not the first time that Raso, who also goes by the nickname ‘Esaurito’, was arrested in Spain. In 2020, he was arrested in Barcelona on charges of belonging to a criminal organization, usury and drug trafficking.
A few days after his arrest, the court of the Audiencia Nacional released him, stating that it did not have sufficient information to keep him under arrest. Spanish Police quickly provided the required documentation, but by then it was too late. Raso had been released, and since then has lived in Spain as a fugitive.
In January 2022, the Italian police seized in a garage in Nichelino, Turin and found over 400 thousand euros in cash, along with Rolex watches and jewellery worth over 200 thousand euros. It is believed that the money and cash had been stashed away by Raso.
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