Giulian Dumitrascu, from Braila in east Romania, is said by Romanian police to be one of the country's most dangerous outlaws.
He was arrested on Sunday in Mamaia, a resort on the Romanian Black Sea shore, after seven years on the run.
Romanian news website Libertatea reports that narcotics police had caught wind of a 40-year-old man with a beard who lived in rented apartments and sold drugs under fake names. They reportedly arrested him as he was leaving a club, and later identified him as the fugitive Giulian Dumitrascu.
Police have called Dumitrascu a repeat offender who, in cooperation with others, distributed cannabis and ecstasy throughout Bucharest.
He served nine years in prison for attempting to murder fellow criminal Vasile Petcu before robbing and killing a jeweler in Rome in 2008, according to police.
The jeweler was found dead with his hands and feet tied behind his back. Police say he had been beaten and tortured to death. Dumitrascu allegedly worked with two alleged accomplices, who also hailed from Braila. One of them was arrested in the days following the murder.
Dumitrascu's name also hit headlines in September 2009 when a young man was killed by a police officer who mistook him for the fugitive. Sorin Parvu, 30, reportedly resembled Dumitrascu physically. When police attempted to arrest him, Parvu refused to comply and an officer shot him in the head. A court established that the officer was innocent of aggravated murder, since it had been an accident.
Today, Prahova County Court ruled that Dumitrascu will be held in preventive arrest for 30 days.
