'Ndrangheta boss breaks out of jail in Uruguay

(ANSA) - Montevideo, June 24 - 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".