A top Gambino mobster has been busted in Brazil on murder and drug charges and is awaiting extradition to the U.S., authorities said yesterday.
John Edward Alite, 44, also known as John Alletto, was taken into custody late Wednesday as he walked along a street in an upscale section of Rio de Janeiro, a federal police spokeswoman said.
“It was a prepared action,” she said.
“The man has been living in Copacabana since last December on a tourist visa that has already expired.”
Federal police officers working with Interpol arrested Alite with help from FBI agents.
In addition to homicide, Alite is suspected of controlling illegal businesses, gambling and extortion, according to Interpol and FBI sources.
He’s been in Brazil since last December, law enforcement sources said.
In 2000, Alite was busted for his alleged role in a sperm smuggling conspiracy.
He was charged with bribery for allegedly helping a prisoner sneak his sperm out of a federal lockup in Brooklyn so his girlfriend could be impregnated at a fertility clinic.
He allegedly acted as a go-between, delivering empty sperm kits to a prison guard and paying the jailer when he returned with them filled.
In 2001 Alite was hired as a mob heavy by a Queens personal injury lawyer embroiled in a dispute with a rival over $1 million, authorities said.
He allegedly showed up at the lawyer’s Howard Beach, Queens, office threatening to “crack” him.
In 1998 he was arrested with John Gotti Jr. for a fight outside a Long Island bar.
With Post Wire Services