Gustavo Nocella, alias Ermes, was located in a joint operation of the National Police, the Carabinieri, Interpol and Europol / He changed his residence every three months to elude the authorities / He was the main link between the Neapolitan mafia and the South American cartels and one of the most wanted drug traffickers in the world
One of the most wanted drug traffickers in the world, the Italian Gustavo Nocella, alias Ermes, has been arrested in recent hours in a luxurious residence in Medellin. High representative of the Neapolitan Camorra, he is considered the main liaison of the Rinaldi-Formicola, Amato-Pagano and De Micco clans with the various South American criminal organizations, especially the Colombian ones, for the trafficking of large shipments of cocaine heading to Europe.
"Pool table gave away the new ’Godfather' of the Italian mafia!”. This was how the director of the Colombian National Police, William René Salamanca, celebrated the capture of the kingpin, who explained that the elusive drug trafficker changed his residence every three months in the city of Antioquia in order to elude the authorities, with one key element: he always incorporated a billiard table, a sport to which he was a great fan.
His criminal career culminated in the last few hours in an exclusive apartment in the aforementioned city of Medellín, when armed commandos and intelligence officers of the Colombian National Police validated an Interpol Red Notice, issued by anti-drug agencies of Naples (Italy) for the crime of Participation in a Criminal Conspiracy for Drug Trafficking.
The final phase of the ‘Operation Minerva’ began to take shape six months ago when the National Police, in coordination with Europol, the Carabinieri of Italy and authorities of the United Kingdom, crossed information that allowed to establish that the fugitive had his operations center in Colombia.
The next steps were his discreet tracking until his location and capture. From now on, the procedures aimed at his extradition to the trans-Alpine country begin.
One of the most wanted drug traffickers in the world, the Italian Gustavo Nocella, alias Ermes, has been arrested in recent hours in a luxurious residence in Medellin. High representative of the Neapolitan Camorra, he is considered the main liaison of the Rinaldi-Formicola, Amato-Pagano and De Micco clans with the various South American criminal organizations, especially the Colombian ones, for the trafficking of large shipments of cocaine heading to Europe.
"Pool table gave away the new ’Godfather' of the Italian mafia!”. This was how the director of the Colombian National Police, William René Salamanca, celebrated the capture of the kingpin, who explained that the elusive drug trafficker changed his residence every three months in the city of Antioquia in order to elude the authorities, with one key element: he always incorporated a billiard table, a sport to which he was a great fan.
His criminal career culminated in the last few hours in an exclusive apartment in the aforementioned city of Medellín, when armed commandos and intelligence officers of the Colombian National Police validated an Interpol Red Notice, issued by anti-drug agencies of Naples (Italy) for the crime of Participation in a Criminal Conspiracy for Drug Trafficking.
The final phase of the ‘Operation Minerva’ began to take shape six months ago when the National Police, in coordination with Europol, the Carabinieri of Italy and authorities of the United Kingdom, crossed information that allowed to establish that the fugitive had his operations center in Colombia.
The next steps were his discreet tracking until his location and capture. From now on, the procedures aimed at his extradition to the trans-Alpine country begin.