After two decades using his extensive network to hide out from Italian authorities all around the country, notorious Italian mobster Enzo Fazzalari has been apprehended by the police. According to VICE News, Fazzalari is Italy’s second most-wanted fugitive and was caught in Calabria asleep with a paramour next to him. The details of his capture are like something out of a movie, as he had weapons and ammunition by his side when they found him and seemed to have enjoyed the time he spent with his female company. This pales in comparison with the details from the last hideout the police found of Fazzalari’s, which had Cuban cigars, an escape tunnel, wifi, a television, A/C, and bottles of wine. Which, even if it was an underground bunker, sounds better than most millennial apartments.
The Carabinieri are deservedly proud of this capture, as Enzo has been described as “one of the most important fugitives and a leading underworld figure” as well as a “merciless killer.” Originally convicted of “extortion, membership of a mafia-like organization, attempted murder and a double homicide” when he went on the run, it isn’t a stretch to expect that he is responsible for significantly more death and tragedy than just his official charges. The organization he leads, the ‘Ndrangheta, is one of the most dangerous and preeminent organized crime outfits in all of Italy and even Europe.
Some of the atrocities Enzo and his crew have carried out have been cited in stories about his fugitive status over the years but the worst of their actions include a gang war that ended in the deaths of hundreds of people and an anecdote that is horrifying in its Breaking Bad-esque nature in which a severed head was used like a clay pigeon in target practice. Chilling, like something from a crime novel. Fazzalari is facing life in prison, which seems almost not enough based on what he is accused of doing. After this success, it looks like Italy’s actual most-wanted fugitive should reinforce his web of secrecy and bunker locks otherwise he could be next.