One of Italy’s most infamous mafia bosses, known as the “cocaine king of Milan”, has been arrested after 23 years on the run.

Rocco Morabito was apprehended in Uruguay after fleeing from convictions for mafia association, drug trafficking and other serious crimes, according to the Italian Interior Ministry.

Morabito, 50, was described as the most wanted member of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, the most powerful organised crime group in Italy and Europe's biggest importer of cocaine from South America.

Morabito was detained in the seaside town of Punta del Este, about 50 kilometres east of Montevideo.

The arrest followed co-operation between Uruguayan police and Italian authorities who worked to discover his real identity.

Authorities had been searching for Morabito since 1994, according to newspaper Corriere della Sera, after he was rumbled paying 13 billion lire ($8m) to import almost a tonne of cocaine.

Morabito was issued an international arrest warrant in 1995, with the aim of extraditing him to Italy, where he would await a sentence of 30 years behind bars.

The mafia boss was on the Italian Interior Ministry's list of five most-wanted organised criminals.