The Italian Camorra suspect Raffaele Imperiale (46), who was arrested in Dubai last year at the request of the Italian authorities, would not be extradited from Dubai. At least that's what the Irish newspaper Sunday World reports . Last August, it leaked that Imperiale in Dubai with a co-defendant had been arrested in a luxury villa.
Sunday World writes that local authorities have rejected the request of the Italian DDA (Direzione Distrettuale Antimafia) to extradite him to Italy. That would mean Imperiale going free. He was on the top list of wanted Italian suspects until the summer .
Imperiale has been wanted by Italian authorities since 2016 to serve an eight-year prison sentence for drug trafficking, in an investigation into Naples-based Camorra. Imperiale was also the man who delivered paintings stolen from the Van Gogh Museum to the authorities in Italy.
His name is also associated with investigations into cocaine trafficking, in combination with the Irish Kinahan clan and the Amsterdam Chilean Richard “Rico” RV, who was convicted in the Netherlands for leading a criminal organization that dealt in drugs. Imperiale has also been mentioned as being indirectly involved in a conflict between Dutch drug criminals.