Mafia killer uses sewers to evade capture

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.