Interpol arrests a member of the Calabrian mafia who set up a restaurant in France after 16 years on the run

Interpol has arrested in the French town of Saint-Étienne edward greco63, suspected convicted murderer and prominent member of the ‘ndranghetathe well-known Calabrian criminal organization. Greco, who had been on the run for more than 16 years, has been discovered working as a pizza chef under a false name and in a restaurant run by himself, which opened in the summer of 2021 in the French city.

Considered a “dangerous fugitive” and sentenced to life in prison for several murders framed within a mafia war in the 1990s, Greco managed to escape almost 17 years ago while in police custody in Italy. An operation carried out by the Cosenza carabinieri, coordinated with the French authorities through the Interpol I-CAN projecthas made it possible to locate the fugitive in Saint-Étienne, whose identity has already been confirmed by the Italian police.

“The Italian restaurant of your dreams”

According to sources in the French press, and as reported by the British newspaper GuardianGreco had spent several years in France working as a cook in different restaurants and pizzerias in the same town, until he was encouraged to open your own business under the false name of Paolo Dimitrio.

Baptized as ‘Cafe Rossini Ristorante‘ the place specializing in Italian cuisine opened on rue Pointe Cadet in Saint-Étienne in July 2021. The restaurant, now apparently closed, posted on its Facebook account the local newspaper news the progress which then covered the inauguration of the same, statements and photographs of the fugitive himself included.

“Italian by birth, but stephanois from the bottom of my heart, after fourteen years, Rocco, as his friends call him, has brought his talent as a chef to the service of many Italian restaurants in the town”, he published at the time the progress. According to the same article, Dimitrio stated that they were making a home italian cookingmade “only with fresh products”, and that he had learned the trade while touring the Hexagon, and thanks to his Calabrian grandmother from whom he had “inherited his know-how and his taste for things well done”.

The mafioso-turned-cook stated that the idea of ​​his establishment was to present a different menu each day focusing on regional specialties, with pizzas, pastas, vegetarian dishes and meats, but he stated that “we don’t make spaghetti bolognese here” Of course, judging by the video also published on their Facebook, they had no problem serving the pasta in cheese rinds, a trend repeated ad nauseam today on social networks.

The news of the progress He then ended by stating that “after a difficult year, Rocco has only one goal: to make La Bota’s cuisine known, in all its diversity”. And maintain his double identity as a convicted fugitive, we suppose. Perhaps it wasn’t a very good idea to expose yourself to the public when justice seeks you, although we already know the passionate attachment that Italians have with their cuisine.

Photos | prostooleh on Freepik – Interpol
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