op Italian 'Ndrangheta Mafia boss escapes from prison in Uruguay

One of the most senior members of Italy's 'NdranghetaMafia, Rocco Morabito, has escaped from a Uruguay prison where he wasawaiting extradition to Italy.Rocco Morabito, 52, escaped from the INR prison in the capitalMontevideo along with three other inmates, the Uruguayan InteriorMinister said in a Monday statement.At around midnight, the four men escaped via the prison's rooftop.They then broke into a flat of a neighbouring building and stolemoney from the woman living there, the ministry said.At the time of his arrest in Uruguay in September 2017, Morabito wasdescribed by then-Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti as "thenumber one fugitive" from the 'Ndrangheta.He had been on the run since 1994, and had been convicted in absentiafor belonging to a Mafia organization, cocaine trafficking and otherserious crimes, and should serve a 30-year-prison sentence. That he managed to flee from prison "is disconcerting and serious,"Italy's current Interior Minister and deputy premier Matteo Salvinisaid in a statement.He said he would "ask the government in Montevideo for immediateexplanations," and pledged to hunt down Morabito "wherever he is, todump him in prison, as he deserves."The 'Ndrangheta is one of the world's most powerful organized crimegroups, and is the leading smuggler of cocaine into Europe. Itoriginates from the southern Italian region of Calabria.According to the Uruguayan El Pais newspaper, Morabito had not yetbeen extradited to Italy because he had appealed against it beforeUruguay's supreme court.