Lebanon extradites suspected drug dealer to Italy

Lebanon, on Thursday, handed over to Italy a suspected Italian drug dealer arrested weeks ago near the capital, Beirut, the Italian police said, Anadolu Agency reports.

Sought with an international arrest warrant, Bruzzaniti was arrested while he was having dinner at a restaurant in the city of Jounieh.

He is accused of being responsible for the smuggling of around two tons of cocaine a month from South America to Italy.

He was a fugitive since October last year, when Italian police arrested more than 30 people accused of being part of a criminal group responsible for the smuggling of tons of cocaine from South America to the southern Italian region of Calabria, a stronghold of ‘Ndrangheta’, an Italian organised crime syndicate.

At the time, police seized more than four tons of cocaine, worth €800 million ($876 million).

These arrests were the result of an investigation carried out by Italian authorities in collaboration with Interpol, the US Drug Enforcement Administration and Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces.

Beirut port blast: three years on, victims still await accountability