After 30 years on the run, Matteo Messina Denaro, the final “godfather” of the Sicilian mafia and one of the most sought criminals in the world, was apprehended in Palermo.
Denaro, 60, was found in a Sicilian city’s private clinic after going missing in 1993.
Following the demises of Bernardo Provenzano in 2016 and Salvatore Riina in 2017, the gangster was previously viewed as a potential candidate to become the Sicilian mafia’s boss of bosses.
According to Italian media, he was undergoing treatment when the Carabinieri apprehended him just before 10:00 (09:00 GMT) and took him to a secure place. The arrest is alleged to have involved more than 100 military personnel.
In absentia, Messina Denaro was prosecuted for many murders and given a life sentence.
He allegedly holds the key to some of the most horrifying atrocities committed by the Sicilian mafia, such as the bomb strikes that claimed the lives of renowned anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. He was found guilty and given a life term in prison in absentia in 2002 for having personally murdered or given the go-ahead for the killing of several individuals.
The formidable Cosa Nostra organised crime syndicate’s mafia chief also handled racketeering, illicit garbage disposal, money laundering, and drug trafficking. According to reports, he was Tot Riina’s protege. Tot Riina was the boss of the Corleone family and was apprehended in 1993 after 23 years on the lam.
Denaro, often known as Diabolik or U Siccu (the slim one), was born in 1962 in Castelvetrano, Sicily. Denaro prospered in the family firm, which was run by his father, a powerful Cosa Nostra figure, and created an illegal multibillion-euro empire in the garbage, wind energy, and retail industries.
Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, praised the military for its efforts in capturing the “most significant mafia criminal group member,” calling it “a fantastic success for the state.”
