Dubai Police have recently arrested one of Italy’s most wanted criminals, Raffaele Imperiale, an alleged kingpin of the organized crime syndicate ‘Camorra’, which is involved in drug and weapons trafficking crimes across international borders.
The UAE state news agency WAM reported on Wednesday that Dubai Police also arrested Imperiale’s right-hand man Raffaele Mauriello, who is responsible for plotting and executing murders and assassinations using unlicensed firearms.
Both Imperiale and Mauriello are wanted by Italian authorities and Interpol, who have issued Red Notices against them.
Dubai Police apprehended Imperiale after they discovered his true identity despite the fact he was impersonating someone else using a fake identity under the name of ‘Antonio Rocco’.
The wanted Italian made sure to use different cars to hide his daily movements. He also chose to live in an isolated home with an overlooking spot to monitor those who approach him and intentionally avoided registering a precise address to mislead authorities and remain in the shadows.
Imperiale was born and raised in the Italian city of Naples. He’s been a member of the Italian ‘Camorra’ organized crime syndicate since his early childhood until he became one of the most infamous drugs kingpins in Italy for his criminal history.
According to WAM’s report, he’s considered as one of Italy’s most dangerous and wanted fugitives by the Anti-Narcotics Directorate in Stabia, Naples.
Lt. Gen. Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-In-Chief of Dubai Police, said the arrest of Imperiale and Mauriello is another achievement to the fruitful cooperation between Dubai Police and international law enforcement agencies as per the directives of H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, who has always directed the UAE’s forces to maintain strong, active, and vital communication channels with the world’s police agencies, and Interpol to tackle transnational organized crime.
Close Surveillance Expert Major General Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs, said the arrest of Imperiale and his right-hand man came after they had been placed under close surveillance by a team of elite investigators from the General Department of Criminal Investigation aided with the latest artificial intelligence technologies available at the Dubai Police Criminal Data Analysis Center and ‘Oyoon’ surveillance program.
Brig. Jamal Salem Al Jallaf, Dubai Police’s Director of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), praised that the exceptional efforts of all investigation teams who were able to reveal Imperiale’s true identity and to foil his deceptive methods in staying low and hiding behind a fake identity.
“He was using fake identity under the name of ‘Antonio Rocco’ and used multiple cars to hide his daily movements. Imperiale chose to live in an isolated home with an overlooking spot to monitor those who approach him. He intentionally had avoided registering a precise address to mislead authorities,” Al Jallaf added.
Al Jallaf said they placed Imperiale under surveillance around the clock and for a whole week.
“Backed with the latest AI technologies, our officers kept track of Imperiale’s movements and revealed his deceptive methods in evading detection. At Zero hour, a specified task team raided the house and arrested Imperiale with high professionalism. The team seized large sums of cash, luxury watches, and valuable possessions including paintings,” he added.
Al Jallaf further explained that Dubai Police has referred two wanted Italians to Dubai Public Prosecution, who would determine the mechanism for their extradition per existing international agreements.
An AFP report said in 2016 Imperiale was believed to have fled to the Gulf emirate.
Police in Naples had said Imperiale was arrested on August 4 in Dubai in coordination with Interpol and Europol.
In 2016, Italian police found two Van Gogh paintings that had been stolen from Amsterdam’s Van Gogh museum 14 years earlier inside a home outside Naples belonging to Imperiale, said AFP.
Italian police said a close cohort of Imperiale, Vincenzo Aprea — a well-known Camorra boss now in prison — had been able to buy the paintings on the black market using drug money.
