Prague, July 21 (CTK) – Czech police have arrested one of the Calabrian mafia bosses, Francesco Bonavita, in Prague, Czech Nova and Prima TV channels reported yesterday and a police spokeswoman told CTK that the detained man is a 69-year-old important member of a criminal organisation who is wanted by Italy.
The suspect, arrested a few days ago, is waiting for the results of the extradition proceedings, the Police Presidium’s spokeswoman, Marketa Janovska, said.
According to Nova TV, Bonavita has lived in the Czech Republic for several months and the police detained him in Prague’s northwestern Dejvice neighbourhood.
“In Italy, he faces a prison sentence of up to 26 years,” Janovska said.
Italy suspects Bonavita of criminal conspiration and of being behind a number of dubious deals, TV Nova said.
The Czech police arrested another four suspects, all Czechs, at various places, mostly abroad, in cooperation with their foreign counterparts during two weeks as of late June.
First, they detected a 45-year-old man suspected of embezzlement and other serious economic crime in the Dominican Republic and arrested him in cooperation with the local police.
Another detained suspect, aged 44, figured on the list of the most-wanted persons in Europe.
“He was arrested in France thanks to a very good cooperation between the Czech Police Presidium’s search department and the French police,” Janovska said.
On July 11, a 49-year-old Czech suspected of money laundering was arrested in Germany based on an European arrest warrant.
A 40-year-old man wanted on suspicion of vast economic and property crime was arrested in the first week of July in the garden of his house in Prague, Janovska said.
