Emanuele Gregorini, also known as “Dollarino,” an Italian fugitive suspected of orchestrating significant cocaine shipments from Latin America to Europe, has been arrested in Colombia.

The head of Colombia’s national police referred to Gregorini as “the head of the Italian mafia Latin America.”

He was apprehended in an apartment located in the coastal city of Cartagena, following a multinational operation involving Italian, British, and Colombian investigators.

Gregorini was fugitive since 2023 when he was accused of being a pivotal figure in the “Lombardy mafia system,” a coalition between the Camorra, Cosa Nostra, and ‘Ndrangheta mafia groups.

Gregorini’s role in orchestrating cocaine shipments from Colombian port cities of Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta to Europe is under scrutiny by the police.

Colombian Police Chief Carlos Triana branded the arrest of Gregorini as a major setback for transnational crime syndicates.

He was described as an “invisible narco” who managed to stay under the radar and avoided drawing attention to himself.

Surveillance footage showcased him engaging in normal life activities like going to the gym and dining in local restaurants within his affluent rented neighborhood, suggesting a lack of concern regarding potential identification.

Prosecutors claim that Gregorini’s apprehension in Colombia underlines a growing Italian mafia presence in Latin America.
Insight Crime, a think tank focused on organized crime, highlights that European criminal networks have started setting up their own drug smuggling routes in South America, bypassing middlemen.
Particularly, Italian mafia groups have broadened their influence in Colombia and Brazil in recent years.

In October, Luigi Belvedere, a top wanted individual in Italy, was arrested in the city of Medellín where he was photographed beside the grave of infamous Colombian drug lord, Pablo Escobar.