Rocco Morabito, a mobster
belonging to the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta mafia, escaped from
Montevideo central prison overnight, the Uruguayan interior
ministry said on Monday.
Morabito, 53, was awaiting extradition to Italy after being
arrested in a Montevideo hotel in 2017.
He had been a fugitive from Italian justice for 23 years.
In March a court approved his extradition to Italy.
Morabito, who has been sentenced in absentia to 30 years in
jail in Italy, was in the prison's infirmary with his three
accomplices.
They escaped through a tunnel they dug into the roof of the
building, from which they let themselves down on ropes into an
adjacent farm, where they stole money from the women owner,
local sources said.
The boss had tried in various ways to evade extradition to
Italy and had insulted the judge at a recent hearing to try to
get the proceedings suspended.
Uruguayan authorities have sent out an all points bulletin
and have given out a phone number for anyone with useful
information.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Morabito's
escape was "disconcerting and grave".
"I make two vows," he said. "First, to shed full light on how
he escaped, asking for immediate explanation from the government
in Montevideo.
"Second, we will continue to hunt Morabito, wherever he is,
to bang him up in jail as he deserves".
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