ROME - ITALIAN police arrested on Sunday the suspected head of a mafia crime family in the southern region of Calabria.

Salvatore Coluccio, who had been on the run for four years, was found hiding in a special bunker equipped with an electric generator, an air conditioning system and a large stock of food, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.

Coluccio, who figured on a list of Italy's 30 most dangerous fugitives, was arrested in Roccella Ionica, a small Calabrian town on the Ionian Sea, police said.

Coluccio and his brother Giuseppe, who was arrested last August in Canada, are believed to head a powerful crime family for the mafia in Calabria, who are known as the 'Ndrangheta.

The pair are suspected of masterminding a vast drug-trafficking network between South America and Calabria, according to ANSA.

Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni issued a statement after Coluccio's arrest thanking police for the 'important operation.' Following his arrest in a Toronto suburb, Giuseppe Coluccio was extradited to Italy. -- AFP