Overview

• A squad of about a dozen Colombian special forces officers acting in coordination with Italian authorities raided an apartment in Cali on August 10 to arrest Federico Starnone.
• Also known as “Fedi” and sought by Interpol, Starnone was identified as the designated successor to Giuseppe Palermo after Palermo’s July arrest in Bogota.
• Colombian President Gustavo Petro has described Starnone as a key wholesale buyer of cocaine for the Italian mafia.
• Police allege he managed alliances with the Clan del Golfo, Brazil’s Primeiro Comando Capital and Ecuador’s Los Choneros and concealed cocaine in containers loaded with fruit and coffee bound for Europe.
• Investigators are now targeting the broader trafficking infrastructure and criminal alliances that Starnone directed.