Lebanon hands over alleged Italian drug dealer arrested near Beirut: judicial official

Lebanon on Thursday handed over to Italian authorities an alleged member of Italy's notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia wanted for involvement in the international drug trade, a judicial official said.

Lebanese authorities "handed over Bartolo Bruzzaniti, 48 to an Italian security delegation which put him on a private plane to Rome", the official said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Bruzzaniti was arrested in early July in a restaurant in Jounieh, north of the capital Beirut, over alleged involvement in the international cocaine trade, the official said.

Wanted by the Italian authorities, he was the target of an Interpol red notice issued in October last year, the official added.

In announcing Bruzzaniti's arrest in July, Interpol said it was the 76th arrest of alleged 'Ndrangheta members abroad through its "I-CAN" programme, which Italy set up in 2020 to educate and share information with other countries about the mafia and its activities on their territories.

The 'Ndrangheta is Italy's wealthiest and most powerful mafia, active in at least 40 countries and engaged in a wide range of illegal activities from drug trafficking, money laundering and extortion to rigging public tenders.

Bruzzaniti's handover was the result of more than two weeks of negotiations between Lebanese and Italian authorities concerning the extradition, the official said.

His visa had expired and he had been moving between hotels and private houses before his arrest, the judicial official said.

Bruzzaniti had "agreed to be extradited to his country to be tried there", the official added.