World

Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro arrested in Sicily

Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro has been arrested in Sicily after 30 years on the run.

Messina Denaro was reportedly detained in a private clinic in Sicily’s capital, Palermo.

He is alleged to be a boss of the notorious Cosa Nostra mafia.

Italian media reported that he had been receiving treatment when he was captured just before 10:00 (09:00 GMT) and taken to a secret location by the Carabinieri.

More than 100 members of the armed forces are said to have been involved in the arrest.

A video circulated by Italian media appears to show people standing in the street and applauding the Italian police as Messina Denaro is led away.

Messina Denaro was tried and sentenced to life in jail in absentia in 1992 over numerous murders.

These include the 1992 killing of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the deadly 1993 bomb attacks in Milan, Florence and Rome, and the kidnapping, torture and killing of the 11-year-old son of a mafioso turned state witness.

Messina Denaro once boasted he could “fill a cemetery” with his victims.

SOURCE: BBC

Related Articles

Back to top button