Real-Life Malavita: French Court Cancels Extradition of Italian Mafia Hitman Turned Pizza Baker

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of France overturned the lower court's decision to extradite Edgardo Greco to Italy, a convicted mafia hitman who turned into a chef and now bakes pizzas in France. He has been evading punishment since 2006, as reported by France 24.

In April 2023, the Lyon Court of Appeals supported Greco's extradition, but this decision was suspended pending an appeal to the Court of Cassation.

The Court of Cassation stated that Greco's extradition case should be reheard in France, citing procedural deficiencies related to the composition of the Lyon Court of Appeals chamber.

In Italy, the 63-year-old Greco is wanted to serve a life sentence for bludgeoning two mafia rivals to death in a Calabrian fish shop in 1991.

Greco is suspected of belonging to the notorious 'Ndrangheta, a powerful mafia organization based in Calabria, southern Italy.

He fled the country after the verdict in 2006 and remained in hiding until he was arrested by French police in February 2023. This occurred after investigators discovered that he worked as a pizzaiolo in an Italian restaurant in Saint-Étienne in central France.

Greco assumed a new identity, calling himself Paolo Dimitrio. In July 2021, he was so confident in his new pseudonym that he agreed to publish it in a French newspaper, boasting about the recipes of his restaurant.

After French police surveillance confirmed his identity, he was arrested. Following this, Italy requested his extradition.

The news indeed resembles the plot of the 2013 film directed by Luc Besson and produced by Martin Scorsese, 'Malavita.' In the storyline, a mafia hitman and his family are relocated to a sleepy town in France under the witness protection program. However, despite the efforts of the protection agent, the family returns to their old habits and exposes themselves. A must-watch film with an all-star cast.