Thai police arrested Sicilian mafia boss Vito Roberto Palazzolo at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday March 30, The Bangkok Post reported.
Palazzolo is from Tarrasini near Sicily’s capital Palermo and was allegedly a leader and money launderer for the Cosa Nostra mafia. He was sentenced in 2009 to nine years in jail by an Italian court but had fled to South Africa and was living under the name Robert von Palace Kolbatschenko. South Africa did not extradite the alleged mafia boss.
Investigators tracked Palazzolo through his personal Facebook profile and those of his friends and family.
Italian media reported that Thailand agreed to extradite Palazzolo to Italy, but that his lawyers were arguing that he is a South African national.
Public prosecutors called him “one of the most important Cosa Nostra figures in 20 years, notably because of his key role between business and the mafia,” when he was sentenced in Italy.
In South Africa he had reportedly built a new life as a major business leader with investments in mineral water, security and ostrich farming.
Investigors also believe that he owned a high-end hunting ground, a diamond cutting business, and was an investor in a gem business in Angola.
