Italian fugitive arrested in Amsterdam

An Italian fugitive was arrested by the Amsterdam- and Italian police on the KNSM island on Thursday afternoon. According to the police, there is an international arrest warrant for the man, who still has to serve seven years in prison in Italy.

The man was arrested on Venetiehof around 4:00 p.m., according to NU.nl. The Amsterdam police deployed a SWAT team for the arrest. He will soon be extradited to Italy, a spokesperson for the police said to the newspaper.

According to newspaper AD, the fugitive is Francesco de Simone, a leader in mafia-type syndicate Camorra. Italian media also considers De Simone to be a prominent figure in the Torre Annunziata clan, where he served as broker in the drug trade.

This is not the first time the Carabinieri, an Italian military force charged with police duties, was in Amsterdam for an arrest. In September last year two Carabinieri officers were flown to the Dutch capital to be part of the arrest of a Mafia member. In October mafia member Saverio Tucci was murdered. His body was found in a car in Amsterdam West.