ITALY
Who is Matteo Messina Denaro, the most wanted Italian mobster caught after 30 years?
The head of the Cosa Nostra mafia had been on the run for three decades but will now serve several life sentences for various crimes and attacks.
Matteo Messina Denaro, the last leader of Cosa Nostra and the most wanted capo in Italy, was arrested this Monday morning after 30 years on the run from the authorities. The first reports suggest that he was arrested while having breakfast in a bar in Palermo before entering a private clinic where he was undergoing some therapy, according to what the commander of the carabinieri.
Mafia boss Messina Denaro caught
Messina Denaro 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 ten people the following year.
The country’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, has described the arrest as “a great victory for the state, which shows that it does not give in to the mafia,” adding that, “another organized crime boss is brought to justice. My warmest thanks, along with that of the entire government, to the police forces [...] for the capture of the most important exponent of mafia crime.”
Who is Matteo Messina Denaro?
Until today, mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro was considered one of the most powerful and dangerous members of the criminal organization. He was born in Castelvetrano, Sicily, Italy on April 26, 1962, and is the son of Francesco Messina Denaro, a mafioso who was considered one of the most powerful in western Sicily.
Messina Denaro began his criminal career in the early 1980s, and quickly rose through the ranks of the Sicilian Mafia. He is believed to have been involved in a wide range of criminal activities, including extortion, drug trafficking, and murder. He is also thought to have played a key role in the Sicilian Mafia’s efforts to control the construction industry on the island.
In 1993, Messina Denaro was indicted for his involvement in a number of murders, including the assassination of anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone. He went into hiding in 1993 and since then has become one of the most-wanted criminals in Italy. Despite numerous police operations and arrests of his family and associates, he had managed to evade capture and remained a fugitive. That was until now.
In recent years, the Italian authorities had offered large rewards for information leading to his capture.