Giovanni Parlangeli’s Ghost Network: Moment Fugitive Mafia Boss Arrested in Police Crackdown on Ghost Network

The photo shows Giovanni Parlangeli being led away by Italian agents after a raid on his hideout in Leece, a province in southeastern Italy.

He was one of 51 people arrested – including 11 in Ireland – in coordinated raids across multiple jurisdictions on Monday.

Parlangeli (43) is an important member of the Italian mafia Sacra Corona Unita and has been on the run from the police since 2023.

His arrest has been described by European police as “very important” and “fundamental” for the fight against drug trafficking on the continent.

The Sacra Corona Unita, meaning ‘United Holy Crown’, is also known as Italy’s fourth mafia, after the more famous ‘Ndrangheta, Camorra and Cosa Nostra.

In recent years, the Sacra Corona Unita has built close ties with criminal organizations in Albania involved in the smuggling of drugs into Europe.

The mafia group is believed to use Albania as a distribution point to smuggle drugs into Central Europe. They are also believed to receive drugs from Afghanistan in the country.

Yesterday, Parlangeli was described by Italian police as someone with a “major role” in the mafia group.

“We are talking about a wanted man, a man who has been wanted since 2023… with a major role in the Sacra Corona Unita, which is in the south of Italy, in the Puglia region, because of its geography, its connection with Albania and this whole area is of fundamental importance for this type of investigation.

“We hope that this is just the beginning of a new law enforcement cooperation,” it was said at a Europol police conference yesterday.

Parlangeli had gone on the run after the Lecce court issued a pre-trial detention order in May 2023 due to suspected links to the mafia.

He is said to have forced a local businessman in the Gallipoli region to pay more than €60,000 under severe threats.

Italian police said they arrested Parlangeli in a country house between Taviano and Racale, where they also seized a large quantity of ammunition and false documents.

After a lengthy international investigation, the Ghost network was shut down in operations in nine countries. 51 suspects were arrested in Australia, 11 here, one in Canada and one in Italy. They are linked to the Sacra Corona Unit mafia.

The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) is coordinating investigations into the Ghost platform and has identified four separate organised crime gangs using the network.

These gangs, based in Dublin and the east of the country, are suspected of being involved in drug trafficking, money laundering and related crime.

More than 300 police officers were involved in a series of searches on Monday, including detectives from the DOCB, the Cyber ​​Crime Bureau, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the National Surveillance Unit and the Garda’s Intelligence Services.

Members of Europol, the Australian Federal Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigations were also in Ireland to support the operation.

Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly, responsible for the Garda’s investigations into organised and serious crime, said Ireland has the second largest user base of the Ghost platform, making operations here particularly important.

Jay Je Yoon Jung (32) from Sydney, Australia, was one of the people arrested this week in coordinated raids around the world as part of the fight against the Ghost network.

Jung, described as a “computer nerd,” is accused of setting up and running the Ghost network from a room in his parents’ quiet suburban home.

Even while running the Ghost network, he continued to work for his parents’ cleaning company in the Sydney suburb of Narwee.

According to neighbors, he was the polite and quiet “perfect son” who was known for his love of karaoke.

Police have described him to Australian media as “very socially awkward”.

It is said that Jung was just 23 years old when he created the platform and came up with a business model that saw him sell devices with his app for AUD$2,345 (€1,427), including a six-month subscription.

“We allege the operator has amassed significant financial wealth through operating this platform and selling its services,” said Australian Police Commander Paula Hudson.