Maffia boss tracked down through Facebook!

A mafia hitman, who called himself Scarface, was arrested by Italian police today, after being tracked down via his Facebook account.

Pasquale Manfredi, 33, was on Italy's 100 Most Wanted List and had escaped from the Justice last November and loaded with accusations of Mafia association, murder, extortion, drug trafficking and illegal possession of weapons.

Officers had been tipped off that Manfredi was a fan of the global social networking sight and regularly logged on using his laptop. The arrest came after that Manfredi was connected to his profile on Facebook using a 3G modem internet connection. So the police could intercept the signal and find your refuge. The mafia boss was arrested in Isola Capo Rizzuto while trying to escape through the roof of the house which had served as a hiding place, realizing that the building was surrounded by agents.

Manfredi would long on under the Facebook name Georgie and even had a picture of Scarface on his site — officers said they believed he received coded orders via the site and also kept in touch with mobsters.


Manfredi had more than 200 friends on his Facebook site and police are going through them systematically to see if any others are involved in Mafia activity or are wanted.

Mr Giobbi said: "Manfredi is a good catch. He is particular cold and cruel. We tracked him down because we had information he was using a key to log on to the Internet and in particular use Facebook.

"The operation lasted several months and was successful thanks to good police work and sophisticated technology. Manfredi is suspected of at least two murders and is also wanted for drugs and arms offences.

"He is a very dangerous character and he was on the country's 100 Most Wanted but now one can be taken off the list thanks to meticulous police work and a through investigation."

This is not the first time Italian law enforcement has used Facebook to track down criminals. Last October, police near Rome arrested a burglar who logged on to the social network during a break-in and sent messages to his friends.