Italian police arrest most wanted mafia boss

Italian police arrest most wanted mafia boss

Matteo Messina Denaro had been on the run for three decades.

The Carabinieri nabbed the alleged mob boss in the Sicilian capital Palermo today. (AFP pic)
MILAN:
Italy’s Carabinieri police today arrested Matteo Messina Denaro, the country’s most wanted mafia boss who had been on the run for three decades.

Messina Denaro, who was detained in the Sicilian capital Palermo, is alleged to be a boss of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra mafia.

He has been sentenced in absentia to a life term for his role in the 1992 murders of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

He also faces a life sentence for his role in bomb attacks in Florence, Rome and Milan which killed 10 people the following year.

Police said in September 2022 that he was still able to issue commands relating to the way the mafia was run in the area around the western Sicilian city of Trapani, his regional stronghold, despite his long disappearance.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.