A high-ranking mafia member has been arrested in New York City. Francesco Palmeri, a member of the Gambino mob family, was apprehended by authorities after being accused of trying to extort $1.23million from an Italian businessman. He was then extradited back to Italy where he will appear before the court. Scroll down for video . Caught: Francesco Palmeri (above), a leading member of the Gambino crime family, was arrested in New York after trying to extort $1.23million from an Italian businessman . Home sweet home: After his arrest, Palmeri (above in cap) was extradited back to Italy and greeted by police upon landing . Palmeri made two separate trips to Italy in 2013 to put pressure on the owner of a southern Italian company that plans and installs electrical systems for oil platforms. The business owner also received a series of letters from 'friends in Brooklyn' asking him for money, according to the warrant. The Italian businessman was strong-armed about a loan he was given in the 1980s, the warrant says, which police said likely came from international drug traffickers connected to deceased New York mobster Cesare Bonventre, who was born in the same Sicilian town as Palmeri, Castellamare del Golfo. The  extortion emerged during a separate investigation into a trans-Atlantic drug smuggling and money laundering ring that involved members of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta mob family and the Gambinos. Going away: Palmeri is now looking at 20 years in prison if convicted . 'This demonstrates the international reach of the 'Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra and their still-strong ties with the historic New York mob families,' said Andrea Grassi, an investigator for SCO, an Italian anti-mafia police unit. According to investigators, the maximum sentence for criminal conspiracy to commit international extortion aggravated by mafia membership is about 20 years.
Francesco Palmeri, a leading member of the Gambino crime family, was arrested in New York City .
Palmeri allegedly tried to extort $1.23million from an Italian businessman, and has been extradited back to Italy .
He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted .
A high-ranking mafia member has been arrested in New York City. Francesco Palmeri, a member of the Gambino mob family, was apprehended by authorities after being accused of trying to extort $1.23million from an Italian businessman. He was then extradited back to Italy where he will appear before the court. Scroll down for video . Caught: Francesco Palmeri (above), a leading member of the Gambino crime family, was arrested in New York after trying to extort $1.23million from an Italian businessman . Home sweet home: After his arrest, Palmeri (above in cap) was extradited back to Italy and greeted by police upon landing . Palmeri made two separate trips to Italy in 2013 to put pressure on the owner of a southern Italian company that plans and installs electrical systems for oil platforms. The business owner also received a series of letters from 'friends in Brooklyn' asking him for money, according to the warrant. The Italian businessman was strong-armed about a loan he was given in the 1980s, the warrant says, which police said likely came from international drug traffickers connected to deceased New York mobster Cesare Bonventre, who was born in the same Sicilian town as Palmeri, Castellamare del Golfo. The  extortion emerged during a separate investigation into a trans-Atlantic drug smuggling and money laundering ring that involved members of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta mob family and the Gambinos. Going away: Palmeri is now looking at 20 years in prison if convicted . 'This demonstrates the international reach of the 'Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra and their still-strong ties with the historic New York mob families,' said Andrea Grassi, an investigator for SCO, an Italian anti-mafia police unit. According to investigators, the maximum sentence for criminal conspiracy to commit international extortion aggravated by mafia membership is about 20 years.
New York City. Francesco Palmeri, a member of the He was then extradited back to Italy where he leading member of the Gambino crime family, was arrested in New York after trying to extort $1.23million from an Italian businessman . Home 20 years.