Interpol arrests Italian mob boss working as pizza chef in France

Feb. 4 (UPI) -- An Italian mob boss convicted for the murder of two brothers was arrested in France on Thursday where he was working as a pizza chef while on the run.

Edgardo Greco, 63, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1991 murders of Stefano and Giuseppe Bartolomeo, Interpol said in a statement. He is also accused of the attempted murder of Emiliano Mosciaro as part of a "mafia war" between the Pino-Sena and Perna-Pranno in 1990s.

Greco was convicted of beating the two brothers to death with iron bars in a fish market before he allegedly dissolved their bodies in acid.

He escaped police custody in Italy in 2006. An arrest warrant was issued in May 2014 and he was described by Interpol as a "dangerous fugitive."

"He has been untraceable since Oct. 10, 2006," the Italian law enforcement agency Carabinieri said in a separate statement.

Italian authorities said that the bodies of the two brothers were never found and that their killing had been ordered because they "aspired to greater autonomy," interfering with the business of other crime families.

Greco was arrested in Saint-Étienne in France after an investigation led by Nicola Gratteri and assisted by Interpol and French authorities.

"No matter what means they deploy to spend quiet days abroad, the fugitives will not be able to escape prosecution forever," Interpol Secretary-General Jurgen Stock said in a statement.

"Throughout the world, dedicated members of law enforcement will always ensure that justice is upheld."

Gratteri started to circle in on Greco after his Caffè Rossini Ristorante was featured in an article in Le Progres, a French newspaper.

The restaurant's Facebook page indicates that Greco, part of the Ndrangheta organized crime mob, was going by the name Paolo Dimitrio while living in France.

"Originating in the Italian region of Calabria, the 'Ndrangheta is considered the largest and most powerful mafia group in Italy, with activities on every continent and strong links to cocaine trafficking from South America. South and bound for Europe," the Interpol press release reads.

Greco's arrest comes after Matteo Messina Denaro, another mafioso who had been on the run for 30 years, was arrested on a visit to a health clinic in Sicily.