Mafia killer uses sewers to evade capture

Published: Jan. 13, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Order reprints
CASERTA, Italy, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- An alleged Mafia hitman eluded capture Tuesday by fleeing his house through a tunnel to the sewer system beneath Caserta, near Naples, Italian police said.

Police said Giuseppe Setola, 38, featured in Roberto Saviano's bestselling work on the Mafia in Naples, "Gomorra," is one of Italy's 30 most wanted criminals. He evaded arrest when 50 anti-Mafia officers raided his home at dawn, The Times of London reported Tuesday.

Police said Setola used a miner's helmet to help him navigate the sewer system before emerging from a manhole and commandeering a car at gunpoint. The car and miner's helmet were found later.

Police said they believed Setola's two bodyguards escaped with him, the British newspaper said.

Setola, a member of the Casalesi clan of the Camorra, allegedly led an armed gang that shot and killed six African immigrants last September during a Mafia turf war over drug trafficking, the Times said.

Setola has eluded the police for some time, including once being released from prison to house arrest on a doctor's certificate that he was nearly blind. Prosecutors are investigating the incident.


© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.



Your Daily Horoscope
The almanac
Panetta: Congress not told of CIA program
Biden goes on the road to defend stimulus
The two-edged sword of online games
Rio Tinto employees face spy charges
Ghana prepared to greet Obama
fark
Judge allows Twitter-using DA to 'tweet' upcoming muder trial over defense objections. Prosecution's...
Photoshop theme: The end of the universe
NY Times thinks their website users would pay five bucks per month. Listen, for the last time, no...
Fewer calories allow monkeys to live longer. Good thing you're not a monkey
"Resident found out it's not OK to shoot raccoons and gerbils...He told police that he and his neighbors...
Thousands homeless after China Quake. Quisp unavailable for comment