A French narcotrafficker sought by Interpol who belongs to the gang of notorious bank robber Antonio Ferrara was arrested near Rio, Brazilian police said on 1 July.
A French narcotrafficker sought by Interpol who belongs to the gang of notorious bank robber Antonio Ferrara was arrested near Rio, Brazilian police said on 1 July.
“According to the French government, the trafficker belongs to one of the most violent gangs in France” headed by Italian-born Ferrara, a police statement read.
Identified as Pedrag Vukomanovic by the Brazilian police, the French trafficker was sought by the international police organization Interpol for his ties to criminals and international drug trafficking.
He was arrested the day before in Sao Goncalo, in southeastern Rio state, by a police anti-drug unit.
Ferrara’s network “set up a branch in Brazil” that aimed to deliver Latin American cocaine to Europe using mules who would leave the country from the country’s two main cities of Rio and Sao Paulo by plane, according to police.
A major crime figure, Ferrara is currently serving a 12-year criminal prison sentence for his spectacular escape from prison in Fresnes, near Paris, in 2003.
In January, five of his brothers and 13 other people suspected of trafficking cocaine between Latin American and France were arrested by police in France and Brazil.