"Thirty years ago in Palermo the Carabinieri arrested Riina. A great victory for the state against the mafia. The commitment of Defense and Arma continues, more than ever a bulwark of democracy. Our thanks to those who work to protect legality and justice" , thus the defense minister Guido Crosetto in a twitter.
Thirty years have passed since the capture of the Corleone boss Salvatore Riina, arrested in Palermo on January 15, 1993 after 24 years on the run.
The first step of the state offensive against Cosa Nostra after the massacres of '92 in which the judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino fell together with the escort agents.
That day the carabinieri intercepted the car of the mafia boss as soon as he left the residence in via Bernini where he had lived for some time with his family.
The operation was conducted by the group led by Captain Ultimo;
with them the repentant Baldassare Di Maggio who recognizes Salvatore Biondino and Totò Riina aboard a Citroen ZX.
Riina, sitting in the passenger seat of the small car driven by Salvatore Biondino, was blocked around 8.30 on the roundabout in via Leonardo da Vinci, when the car had just passed the Agip motel.
Captain Ultimo opened the door: "Riina, you've been captured at the hands of the carabinieri".
On the same day, the new prosecutor of Palermo, Giancarlo Caselli, took office in Palermo.
The failure to search the hideout in via Bernini, which took place only a few days later when the villa had now been emptied and cleaned, then resulted in a heated controversy between the prosecutor's office and the carabinieri and in a trial concluded with the acquittal of the deputy commander of the Ros Mario Mori and of Colonel Sergio De Caprio, alias Captain Ultimo, from the accusation of aiding and abetting the Cosa Nostra.
Salvatore Riina remained in prison until his death on November 17, 2017;
it was on a Friday, like the day of his arrest.
Of all his crimes he never made any admission.