With the support of Europol, the Romanian special forces and the Italian Polizia di Stato located and arrested last week in Oradea (Romania) a suspect known as V.B.. The suspect was wanted by the Italian authorities for his involvement in an international drug trafficking case, for which he was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment by an Italian court.

In particular, the individual is one of the first international drug brokers who linked the Italian mafia group Cosa Nostra with Ndrangheta and with Colombian drug cartels. Europol supported the case, since the individual had links to other EU Member States and third parties.

This arrest – the result of a fruitful exchange of information between Europol, Italy and other EU Member States, is the fifth of its kind as part of the Italian project ‘Eurosearch’, which aims to locate and capture dangerous mafia fugitives in Europe.

Europol is supporting the project ‘Eurosearch’ and the related investigations with ENFAST (European Network of Fugitive Active Search Teams) and with its dedicated AP ITOC (Analysis Project on Italian Organised Crime) which analytical and operational support, such as organising dedicated operational meeting at its headquarters in The Hague.