Crowd applauds arrested gangster

A veteran Italian mobster has been arrested after 17 years on the run, but scores of friends, relatives and supporters applauded him yesterday as he was escorted out of the police barracks and taken to jail.

Giovanni Tegano, a member of the 'Ndrangheta, was on the list of Italy's top 30 most wanted fugitives. Officials described the 70-year-old as a notorious figure and hailed his arrest as a tough blow to the 'Ndrangheta, a crime syndicate based in the poor region of Calabria.

Police cordoned off the cheering crowd as Tegano left the police headquarters in Reggio Calabria, southern Italy. "Given his role, seniority and the importance of events he knew, he had risen to the ranks of one of the 'Ndrangheta's most important figures," said the senior police official Renato Cortese. The 'Ndrangheta is considered more powerful than the Sicilian Mafia.