KEY POINTS
- Vincenzo La Porta, one of Italy's most dangerous fugitives, has been arrested.
- Police tracked down La Porta after spotting him in a photo celebrating Napoli's Serie A championship win.
- He was on the run for 11 years.
Italian Police have tracked down one of the country's most dangerous fugitives after he was caught celebrating his football team's championship win.
Vincenzo La Porta, who is believed to have close ties to a Naples-based organised crime gang, was on the run for 11 years until his love of football betrayed him, police said.
La Porta was spotted in a photo of fans celebrating at a restaurant on the Greek island of Corfu after Napoli won its first Serie A title in 33 years in June.
Napoli supporters at the Serie A championship game in early June. Source: AAP, EPA / Cesare Abbate
Police headed to Corfu after the photo emerged and arrested him on Friday with the help of their Greek colleagues while he was riding a motor scooter, the Associated Press news agency reported.
His lawyer, Athanassios Giannakouris, told the Associated Press he had started a new life in Greece and had been working as a chef to support his family.
“We will say he does not want to be extradited,” Giannakouris told the Associated Press, adding he suffers from "heart ailments" and that "he and his family will be ruined" if he is forced to return to Italy.
La Porta, who was considered one of Italy's 100 most dangerous fugitives before his arrest, will serve a prison sentence of 14 years and four months after he was convicted in absentia for criminal association, tax evasion, and fraud.
