Winnie the Pooh leads to gangster's arrest

One of Italy's most wanted mafia godfathers has been arrested after seven years on the run after police traced him to his wife's mobile registered in the name of Winnie the Pooh. Vittorio Pirozzi, 58, who was on Italy's 100 most wanted mafia gangsters list, had been a fugitive from the Italian police since 2003, during which time he allegedly ran drug-trafficking operations in Spain and Belgium. He remained in close contact with his wife but changed the SIM card in his mobile phone every two weeks in order to avoid his location being traced.

His wife, however, was not so prudent, calling and texting her husband on a mobile phone which was registered under the alias of AA Milne's character. Police managed to crack a code that Pirozzi used when he called his wife's mobile at a fixed time on the same day every two weeks. After intercepting calls, they followed his wife to Brussels this week and discovered that Pirozzi, a senior member of the Naples-based Camorra mafia, was living in a modest apartment in the centre of the city.



Police and Interpol agents raided the flat on Wednesday night, apprehending Pirozzi on an international arrest warrant issued by Italian judges. Police said he was not armed and did not put up any resistance. He appeared in a court in Brussels and will be extradited back to Italy, where he will serve a 15 year prison sentence after being convicted in absentia on drug trafficking charges in 2003.

The Naples police chief who led the operation, Vittorio Pisani, said Pirozzi had divided his time on the run between Brussels and Malaga, in Spain. "Both are international crossroads for the stockpiling and importing of drugs to Europe," he said. Italy's interior minister, Roberto Maroni, welcomed the arrest. "This is another great state success against the Camorra and adds to a long list of previous arrests."