Colombian police accused of being Italian fugitive mafia boss

An Italian fugitive has been arrested in Colombia for coordinating the shipments of large cocaine cargo from Latin America to Europe.

The National Police Head of Columbia described Imanule Gregorini, also known as “dollars”, as “Italian mafia is the head of Latin America”.

He said Gregorini was tracked into an apartment in a seaside city of Cartzena in a multinational operation which included Italian, British and Colombian investigators.

He was on a run of 2023, when the prosecutors accused him of being an important person in the “Lombardy Mafia System”, which he described as a coalition among Camora, Kosa Nostra and ‘Nadrangetta mafia groups.

Police accused Gregorini of playing an important role in organizing cocaine shipments from Colombian port cities for Europe of Cartagena, Baronquila and Santa Marta.

Colombian police chief Carlos Triana said Gregorini’s arrest was “a serious blow” for the transnational crime syndicates.

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

The surveillance footage published by the Colombian authorities showed him to visit the gym and visit the local restaurant in the Upskale neighborhood, where he rented an apartment, obviously without fear of being recognized.

Prosecutors say his arrest in Colombia indicates the increasing presence of Italian mafia in Latin America.

Insight by crimeA think tank that specializes in organized crime, instead of relying on European criminal network middlemen, is setting up its own drug smuggling routes in South America.

The think tank says that Italian mafia groups have extended their presence, especially in Colombia and Brazil.

In October, one of Italy’s most wanted men, Luigi Belwadier was detained in the city of Medelin, where he posed with the grave of the late Colombian drug Lord, Pablo Escobar.