The Architecture of a Crime Kingpin: Early Life and Coronation
Kept him physically isolated during the height of the mafia war.
For years, Spanish authorities had been clamoring to try Oniani for his role in Operation Avispa. But Russia refused, citing his Russian citizenship. When Oniani was finally released from his Russian sentence on April 9, 2019, he was immediately re-arrested, not for a new crime, but to be extradited. The Russian government performed a remarkable legal maneuver: they revoked Oniani's Russian citizenship, deeming it "obtained with the violation of law," clearing the path for his transfer.