Council chamber considers extradition requests from members of the notorious Calabrian mafia | Interior

The council chamber in Tongeren is today considering the Italian extradition requests of, among others, Lucio Aquino from Maasmechelen, the brothers Marcello and Giuseppe N. from Genk and the brothers Sebastiano and Francesco S. The men were arrested two weeks ago in the largest investigation ever into drug smuggling by the Italian mafia ‘Ndrangheta, from the region of Calabria.

LOOK. Two weeks ago, the European police action against the infamous Calabrese mafia took place

European arrest warrants were issued from Italy for seven suspects. In our country, 62-year-old Lucio Aquino from Maasmechelen and several men from Genk, who are part of the Nirta-Strangio clan, were arrested. The 66-year-old pizza baker Marcello N. from Genk was also arrested. He regularly received well-known people in his restaurant.

Some of the suspects are asking for a postponement, while Lucio Aquino is resisting a surrender through his lawyers. “If the council chamber takes a decision that is negative for us, we will appeal anyway. Then the Antwerp chamber of indictment will consider the case within two weeks. If necessary, we will go to the Court of Cassation. We resist extradition tooth and nail,” says lawyer Jan Keulen, who defends Aquino together with Hugo Vandenberghe.

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Authorities in ten countries arrested a total of nearly 150 suspects. Police forces and special units raided several places in Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Romania, Brazil and Panama. In Limburg, investigators from the federal judicial police carried out house searches in Genk, Hasselt, Bilzen, Maasmechelen and Pelt.

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RECONSTRUCTION. Why Limburg was perfectly located for the Italian mafia clan ‘ndrangheta (+)

While he took a picture with every celebrity, Limburg pizza baker Marcello N. (56) arranged drugs for the Italian mafia (+)

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