A wanted Sicilian drug dealer who fled to the UK has been extradited after he gave the game away by posting photos on Facebook of London locations - including Madame Tussauds, where he posed grinning with a model of Barack Obama.
Michele Grasso vanished from his home town of Taormina in 2010 as police sought to arrest him for drug dealing. But Grasso was untraceable and he mockingly said on Facebook that his address was Alcatraz.
He used the site to let friends know he was having a wonderful time in London. In 2010, he posted photos of himself building a snowman under the title "Fantastic!", and wrote: "Have you seen how beautiful it is here with the snow?"
The photograph prompted one friend to write: "Why don't you let me know where you are? Is it in case you get caught?"
Grasso then posted photos under the title "Christmas in London", followed by snaps of trips to the Ministry of Sound nightclub, the London Eye wheel, Tower Bridge and Oxford Circus. He posted photos of himself with his arm around a woman, titled "My 24th birthday (in London)".
Last year, Grasso was sentenced by a Sicilian court in his absence to five years in jail and a €24,000 fine for drug dealing. But instead of keeping quiet about his new life, he began to give away clues about where in London he could be found.
Last month, he posted photos of himself working in the kitchen of a pizzeria in Woodford Green, London, adding external shots of the restaurant and listing its name.
Two weeks ago, Grasso posted photos of himself grinning and posing with waxworks of Obama, Tom Cruise and David Beckham at Madame Tussauds.
Meanwhile, Italian police contacted Interpol and their British counterparts to request Grasso's arrest and extradition. Grasso was partying near Waltham Abbey at the end of January, according to recent posts.
An Italian news agency reported on Saturday that Grasso was arrested in an operation named Big Ben by Italian police, before being put on a plane back to Italy and was now in jail in Rome.
Guardian News & Media