By Chris Barrett, Amilia Rosa and Pat Stringa
Singapore/Denpasar: An Australian man originally from Italy’s Calabria region has been apprehended in Bali, in a police operation praised by Italy’s prime minister.
Antonio Strangio, 32, is wanted by Italian police over the sale of 160 kilograms of marijuana but had evaded their grasp in the seven years since an Interpol red notice global alert was issued for his arrest.
Australian-Italian dual citizen Antonio Strangio, 32, is transferred by police in Bali on Wednesday. Credit: Amilia Rosa
He is now facing extradition to Rome after being detained by immigration officers as he arrived at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport last week and could face as long as 30 years in prison in Italy if found guilty.
Police in the southern Italian region of Reggio Calabria had been searching for Strangio for seven years, as part of the anti-mafia project, and had known of his whereabouts for some time, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
Strangio, an alleged member of the Calabrese crime syndicate ’ndrangheta, had been warned by Italian police he was being watched, the newspaper reported.
Italy’s far-right PM Georgia Meloni has reportedly praised the series of arrests.Credit: Bloomberg
“But once he made his first false step, the member of ’ndrangheta ... had fallen.”
La Repubblica reported that Strangio had felt “protected” by his Australian citizenship. Italian police are investigating why he went to Bali.
Strangio had been on the run since 2016, after a police operation Eclissi 2 began.
“The operation revealed an important distribution channel for marijuana in the area, but also the clan/family’s infiltration in all the economic and commercial activities ... an infiltration only made possible by relationships with local politics and administrations,” according to the newspaper.
His arrest followed the apprehension of Edgardo Greco, known as the ‘chef of ’ndrangheta’ who was wanted for two homicides, in St Etienne in France, Italian media reported.
Italian prime minister Georgia Meloni said the arrest of Strangio was the third arrest in a few days of ’ndrangheta members, after Greco who had been in hiding for 17 years and Matteo Messina Denaro. She congratulated the police, law enforcement and intelligence forces for their “extraordinary results”.
Born in Reggio Calabria in southern Italy, Strangio is an Australian citizen by descent who had been living in Australia since 2015.
He had applied for and been granted citizenship in 2011 and was travelling on an Australian passport when he was captured, Indonesian police said on Wednesday.
Italian police had accused him of being involved in the purchase and intent to sell the marijuana in San Ferdinando, a coastal city in the Calabria region, in June 2014.
An arrest warrant on a charge of drugs association was issued for him by a magistrate in Reggio Calabria on June 23, 2015.
“He has been co-operative since he was detained. He admitted that it was his photo and his identity [in the red notice] but he denied his involvement with the sale of 160kg of marijuana,” said Ni Luh Kompiang Srinadi, a chief of Bali police’s general crime unit.
“He doesn’t understand why there’s a red notice out for him. He denied committing any crime in Italy when questioned by Bali police.”
Police said Strangio worked in construction in Adelaide and his address was listed at Norton Summit in the Adelaide Hills.
“He was holidaying in Bangkok [and] when he returned he transited via Malaysia and Bali,” Srinadi said. “He was to depart back to Australia when the 24/7 Interpol system picked him up and he was arrested at immigration before he entered Indonesia.”
Strangio had landed in Bali on a Batik Air flight from Kuala Lumpur.
He wasn’t paraded by police, as is customary, at a press conference held in Denpasar on Wednesday because he is not accused of committing any offences in Indonesia but he was transferred to an interrogation room as officers announced his capture to reporters.
Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto, a spokesman for Bali police, said Strangio was being held for an initial 20 days by Bali police after being apprehended on February 2.
“We have contacted Interpol in Jakarta waiting for further instructions, for extradition or a pick-up by Italian police,” he said.
Strangio has no avenue in Indonesia to contest his arrest.
“There is no legal recourse in Indonesia for Antonio to fight his Interpol arrest,” said Gede Nusantara, the lawyer representing him in Bali. “He can’t fight his arrest in Indonesian court.”
Officials from the Australian consulate-general in Denpasar arrived at Bali police headquarters on Wednesday afternoon.
A spokesman for the Australian Federal Police said the arrest of Strangio was “a matter for authorities in Italy and Indonesia”.
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.