In 2016, after Raffaele fled his native Italy for Dubai, authorities discovered two Van Gogh paintings hidden in a wall on one of his properties. The paintings had actually been stolen from the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam in 2002. It is possible he received the paintings in exchange for payment of a drug load as he had partners in that country or had purchased them for himself. However, it was later believed that he held onto the paintings in order to attempt to use them as bargaining chips and reduce a possible prison sentence for himself. It is reported he had spent over €7 million in a three-month timespan, including €200,00 in airfare. He spent more than €3 million just on “personal expenses” while on the run.
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2021 arrest in Dubai. |
Imperiale’s dramatic arrest made international headlines last year as he was arrested in his luxury villa possessing a Russian passport. The application for his extradition stated that he was a member of Europe’s so-called ‘Super Cartel’ along with Irish mobster Daniel Kinahan, Balkan mob boss Edin Gačanin and the jailed Dutch Mocro Maffia leader Ridouan Taghi. He also worked with Colombian groups, including Los Urabeños, also known as the Clan del Golfo or the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC).
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The Super Cartel included Imperiali, Kinahan from Ireland, Edin Gacinin of Bosnia, Ridouan Taghi, a Dutch-Morrocan, and Anthony Meza of Panama (Graphic by HEARST). |
Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) documents sent to the Dutch police have identified Imperiale, Taghi, Gačanin, Richard ‘El Rico’ Riquelme Vega, and Daniel Kinahan as the heads of the ‘Super Cartel’. This group found its base in Dubai where authorities first discovered their connections as they had attended the lavish 2017 wedding of Daniel Kinahan. The year prior he had fled to Dubai from Ireland and Spain following a public shooting that led to the killings of 18 people in an Irish gang war and out of fear of arrest for drug trafficking and murder.
In Dubai, the Super Cartel members, all wanted in their resident countries, could use their wealth to blend in as the place was seen as a safe haven for criminals to network and reside in. Until a few months ago it had limited extradition treaties with most western countries. Now, Dubai/UAE is cooperating much more closely with various law enforcement agencies, as evidenced by several high-value targets wanted by Spain, the Netherlands, and Europol were
arrested there in November 2022.
Imperiali was one of the first of the group arrested in Dubai in 2021 and extradited back to Italy earlier this year. It is said that he has already made four extensive statements to authorities. His capture was largely due to the interception of EncroChat messages. The company provided legally encrypted phones that were set up to guarantee cybersecurity. However, the phone system was infiltrated by Europol in 2020, leading to hundreds of arrests across Europe. Raffaele Imperiale is said to have used the encrypted chats to talk to traffickers such as Daniel Kinahan about ongoing shipments and other drug-related business, according to Europol.
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Imperiale’s Italian wanted poster. |
He had claimed that his extradition was a kidnapping and breached his human rights according to the European Convention, but the Italian court found that there were no grounds for this appeal. His warrant was to serve an 18-year prison sentence for various offenses including drug trafficking in Italy.
He was then arrested again in his jail cell in connection with another case regarding a seizure of 4 metric tons of cocaine worth more than €800 million. It is believed his decision to become an Italian witness came shortly after this latest arrest. He stated that he was tired of his life and wanted to change.
It is currently not known if his information led to the recent captures in Dubai, Spain, and across Europe. But based on providing multiple statements since his arrest, he likely was cooperating before the massive Super Cartel bust and his status was not revealed until after the network was largely dismantled. It has been reported however that he has so far provided information and testimony against two co-defendants in the criminal cases against him in Italy.