Story highlights Rocco Morabito was convicted in Italy and sentenced to 30 years for drug trafficking

He fled Italy in the mid-1990s, was arrested in Uruguay on Friday

(CNN) A convicted drug kingpin in the Italian mafia has been arrested in Uruguay after being on the run for over 20 years, the Uruguayan Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Rocco Morabito -- described by authorities as a prominent member of the Ndrangheta, or Calabrian Mafia -- had been wanted since 1994. He was convicted in absentia for drug trafficking and organized-crime activities in Italy, and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Italian authorities said that Morabito had been responsible for shipping drugs into Italy and arranging distribution in Milan.

View of the villa where Italian mafia fugitive Rocco Morabito lived near the resort town of Punta del Este, Uruguay.

The Uruguayan Interior Ministry said Morabito was arrested Friday in a hotel in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo. Italian police said the arrest followed "months of international cooperation and intelligence activity."

Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti lauded Morabito's arrest, saying he was "considered one of the sought-after members of the Ndrangheta."

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