William Molinié / Photo credit: THIBAUT DURAND / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP
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7:17 p.m., July 19, 2023
Border police intercepted a “big fish” from the Ndrangheta at Lyon-Perrache station during a random identity check. He was the subject of an international arrest warrant issued at the end of 2021 by the Italian authorities for post and bank robbery.
His journey will therefore have ended in France, at the Lyon-Perrache station. According to information from Europe 1, Michele Belloco, a fugitive wanted by the Italian authorities will be extradited to Italy where he must be handed over to justice to serve a sentence of 8 years and 4 months in prison.
The 27-year-old man, from Rosarno, is suspected of being a “big fish”, according to a police source, of the Ndrangheta, a powerful mafia which rages in the region of Calabria, in the South of Italy.
Fake passport and fake Italian identity card
It was the staff of the Lyon border police (PAF) who arrested him on July 11, during a random identity check. The man had on him a false passport and a false Italian identity card. Arrested and then placed in police custody, he finally agreed to release his true identity which was placed in the file of wanted persons (RPF).
International arrest warrant
It then appeared that he was the subject of an international arrest warrant issued at the end of 2021 by the Italian authorities for post and bank robbery. For these facts, he was sentenced in his absence to eight years and four months in prison. He had managed to take to their heels in November 2021 while he was under house arrest. The Italian carabinieri had then committed significant resources, including helicopters, to try to locate him.
Extradition proceedings are underway. The fugitive will be handed over “quickly” to the Italian authorities, according to a source familiar with the matter.