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Italian drug baron caught in Colombia

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Italian drug baron caught in Colombia
Francesco Bitetto was arrested in Cartagena, Colombia. Photo: Martin St-Amant/Wikimedia Commons

A drug trafficker who is reportedly second in command of an Italian crime syndicate has been arrested in Colombia, local media has reported.

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Francesco Bitetto was arrested in the city centre of Cartagena, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, El Universal reported on Wednesday.

The 52-year-old is allegedly the number two of a criminal organization based in Bari, a city in the heel of Italy’s boot, and Rome.

Bitetto has been given a four-year sentence for trafficking cocaine from Colombia and was on Interpol’s list of wanted criminals, El Universal said.

When contacted by The Local, a spokesperson from Interpol was not immediately available to comment on the case.

The arrest comes six months after Colombian authorities extradited Roberto Pannunzi, thought to be one of the world’s biggest cocaine traffickers.

Pannunzi, who escaped from an Italian jail in 2010, was promptly sent to Rome to serve out the remainder of his 16 and a half year sentence.

READ MORE: Italian mafioso deported from Colombia

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