Pietro Criaco is an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabria

Calabria

Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

n mafia. He was a fugitive since 1997 and included in the list of most wanted fugitives in Italy until his capture on December 28, 2008, in Africo

Africo

Africo is a comune in the province of Reggio Calabria, in the Southern Italian region of Calabria at 74 km from Reggio Calabria.Africo consists of two main centers. The first, Africo Vecchio , is located some 15 km in the mainland at the feet of the Aspromonte. The old town was destroyed...

 near the southern city of Reggio Calabria

Reggio Calabria

Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...

.

He tried to enter the 'Ndrangheta when his father Domenico Criaco was killed in 1993. After he was refused by Giuseppe Morabito

Giuseppe Morabito

Giuseppe Morabito , nicknamed u tiradrittu , is an Italian criminal and a historical boss of the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organisation in the region of Calabria . He hails from Africo in the Locride...

, he turned to Cosimo Cordì

Cosimo Cordì

Cosimo Cordì was a member of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. He was the head of the Cordì 'ndrina based in Locri, a hotbed of 'Ndrangheta activity...

, who did accept him in the Cordì 'ndrina

Cordì 'ndrina

The Cordì 'ndrina is a clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. The 'ndrina is based in Locri, a hotbed of 'Ndrangheta activity.-Feud with Cataldo clan:...

. When Cosimo Cordì was killed in October 1997 in the ongoing feud with the Cataldo 'ndrina

Cataldo 'ndrina

The Cataldo 'ndrina is a clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. This particular 'ndrina is based in Locri, a hotbed of 'Ndrangheta activity...

, Criaco is said to have moved through the spectating crowd to kiss his boss goodbye, whose head been nearly blown away in the attack.

He led the counterattack against the Cataldos with Cosimo’s son, Salvatore Cordì. According to informants Criaco was a hit man who was known to wash his hands in the blood of his victims.

In 2000 he was sentenced to 19 years together with the leadership of the Cordì 'ndrina and the Cataldo 'ndrina for murder, extortion and membership of a mafia organization. He was considered to be the military boss of the Cordì clan.