Colombian authorities arrest alleged leader of Italian mafia in Latin America
He was apprehended on the street in Colombia's capital Bogota during a coordinated operation between Colombian, Italian and British authorities, as well as Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, according to an official report. Palermo is believed to be part of "one of the most tightly knit cells' of the 'ndrangheta mafia, said Carlos Fernando Triana, head of the Colombian police, in a message posted on X.
The 'ndrangheta, one of Italy's most powerful and secretive criminal organizations, has extended its influence abroad and is widely accused of importing cocaine into Europe. The suspect "not only led the purchase of large shipments of cocaine in Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, but also controlled the maritime and land routes used to transport the drugs to European markets,' Triana added. Illegal cocaine production reached 3,708 tons in 2023, an increase of nearly 34% from the previous year, driven mainly by the expansion of coca leaf cultivation in Colombia, according to the United Nations.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab Times
8 hours ago
- Arab Times
Apartment fire in Turkey's Ankara kills 3, including a baby
Istanbul, July 13, (AP): A fire at a 26-story apartment building in the Turkish capital, Ankara, killed three people, including a three-and-a-half-month-old baby, local media said. The blaze broke out at around 10:00 p.m. local time Saturday night on the fourth floor and quickly spread through the structure, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. It took firefighters four hours to put out the fire. The agency also reported that 39 suffered light smoke inhalation, including seven firefighters. Paramedics attended to 26 people on site, while 20 others have been hospitalized, one in critical condition.
Arab Times
9 hours ago
- Arab Times
Man Sucked Into Plane Engine, Dies On Tarmac In Italy
ROME, July 13: In a tragic incident earlier this week at Milan Bergamo International Airport in Italy, a man lost his life after bypassing airport security and being pulled into the engine of an aircraft preparing for departure. The event occurred on July 8, when witnesses saw the man driving the wrong way down a road to access the airport. He abandoned his vehicle and entered the arrivals area before reportedly using an emergency exit to reach the runway. According to authorities, the man—who was neither a passenger nor an airport employee—ran toward the aircraft and voluntarily approached the engine. Despite urgent attempts by airport security and police to intercept him, they were unable to stop him in time. The aircraft, operated by Spanish low-cost airline Volotea, was grounded following the incident. The airline confirmed the event in a statement on X (formerly Twitter), saying: 'We regret to confirm flight V73511 from BGY to OVD was involved in an incident at Milan-Bergamo Airport at 10:35 a.m. One individual, not on board and unaffiliated with the company, was seriously injured. All 154 passengers and 6 crew members are safe. We are providing psychological support and cooperating fully with Italian authorities.'
Arab Times
a day ago
- Arab Times
Appeals court throws out plea deal for alleged mastermind of Sept 11 attacks
WASHINGTON, July 12, (AP): A divided federal appeals court on Friday threw out an agreement that would have allowed accused Sept 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to plead guilty in a deal sparing him the risk of execution for al-Qaeda's 2001 attacks. The decision by a panel of the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., undoes an attempt to wrap up more than two decades of military prosecution beset by legal and logistical troubles. It signals there will be no quick end to the long struggle by the US military and successive administrations to bring to justice the man charged with planning one of the deadliest attacks ever on the United States. The deal, negotiated over two years and approved by military prosecutors and the Pentagon's senior official for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a year ago, stipulated life sentences without parole for Mohammed and two co-defendants. Mohammed is accused of developing and directing the plot to crash hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Another of the hijacked planes flew into a field in Pennsylvania. Relatives of the Sept. 11 victims were split on the plea deal. Some objected to it, saying a trial was the best path to justice and to gaining more information about the attacks, while others saw it as the best hope for bringing the painful case to a conclusion and getting some answers from the defendants. The plea deal would have obligated the men to answer any lingering questions that families of the victims have about the attacks. But then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin repudiated the deal, saying a decision on the death penalty in an attack as grave as Sept. 11 should only be made by the defense secretary. Attorneys for the defendants had argued that the agreement was already legally in effect and that Austin, who served under President Joe Biden, acted too late to try to throw it out. A military judge at Guantanamo and a military appeals panel agreed with the defense lawyers. But, by a 2-1 vote, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found Austin acted within his authority and faulted the military judge's ruling. The panel had previously put the agreement on hold while it considered the appeal, first filed by the Biden administration and then continued under President Donald Trump. "Having properly assumed the convening authority, the Secretary determined that the 'families and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commission trials carried out.' The Secretary acted within the bounds of his legal authority, and we decline to second-guess his judgment,' judges Patricia Millett and Neomi Rao wrote. Millett was an appointee of President Barack Obama while Rao was appointed by Trump.
