Vincenzo La Porta
His love for football brought him down: Mafioso caught after eleven years on the run because he cheered too conspicuously
SSC Napoli fans celebrate their team in the final game of the season against FC Bologna. A mafioso celebrated in Corfu – and was recognized by the police.
© Imago Images
The Italian police had been chasing him for eleven years, and now Mafioso Vincenzo La Porta has been arrested on Corfu. He had celebrated SSC Napoli’s title win too conspicuously.
“Too Much Love Will Kill You” was the British rock band Queen’s 1990s hit. Vincenzo La Porta may still be alive, but his insatiable love for SSC Napoli football club has left the Italian mob in a jail cell for now.
La Porta, who went into hiding 11 years ago and was on Italy’s top 100 most wanted list, was arrested on Friday on the Greek resort island of Corfu, Naples police said. A photo on the Internet drew the investigators’ attention to the 60-year-old. The picture shows the wanted man celebrating SSC Napoli’s first win of the Italian championship title in 33 years together with other fans on the balcony of a restaurant in May.
“The carabinieri recognized him in a photo taken on the facade of a restaurant, wearing a baseball cap and a blue scarf in his hands,” Italian police officials said. “He was betrayed by his passion for football and for the Napoli team. After winning the league, La Porta couldn’t help but celebrate.”
Police were just waiting for the Mafioso to make a mistake
La Porta was convicted in absentia in Italy of membership of a criminal organization, tax evasion and fraud. Police had identified the fugitive as a “white collar” member of the Contini clan linked to the Camorra syndicate in Naples. Italian officials reportedly monitored his activities for months, waiting for him to make a mistake that would give them information about his whereabouts. “Web patrols” by officials on social media eventually stumbled upon the mafioso and prosecutors in Naples issued a European arrest warrant.
According to Greek police, officers apprehended La Porta in Corfu near the restaurant where he was reportedly working as a chef. “After a long series of investigations and prosecutions, carried out in valuable cooperation with the Greek police, the Carabinieri were able to arrest him in the street while he was driving his scooter,” Italian police said.
La Porta is currently in custody in Corfu pending an appeals court ruling on Italy’s extradition request. Italian authorities want him flown back to serve a 14-year sentence.
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The 60-year-old’s lawyer, Athanassios Giannakouris, told the Associated Press that his client had made a new life and did not want to be extradited. “He was convicted of tax offenses a long time ago,” explained Giannakouris. “He has started a new family in Greece. He has a nine-year-old boy and works as a cook to make ends meet. He suffers from heart problems. If he is extradited, he and his family will be ruined.”
Sources: Associated Press, “Washington Post”, BBC News