An Italian drug trafficker who had escaped arrest for 15 years was finally caught after he returned home for the birthday of his beloved daughter, police said Friday.
David Cittadini, 49, is due to serve a sentence of 13 years and four months for criminal association and international drug trafficking.
Police said in a statement they knew he lived in Spain, but also that he stayed in touch with his family in Rome, “particularly his mother and daughter, to whom he is very attached.”
So, in the run-up to the daughter’s 23rd birthday, plainclothes policemen stationed “for days” outside the mother’s apartment block, until they saw their man go in.
Disguised as delivery people, the officers stormed the apartment and found Cittadini and the forged identity card he used to fly in from Barcelona under a fake name.
The fugitive was arrested while trying to hide in the bedroom, police added.
In 2006, Italian authorities ordered the arrest of Cittadini and 26 other suspects following an investigation by anti-Mafia prosecutors and special operations police.
According to prosecutors, Cittadini played a leading role in a drug smuggling ring that supplied Rome dealers, sourcing cocaine and hashish from South America and Morocco.
