After
30 years on the run
, persecuted as the supreme boss of the Sicilian mafia,
Matteo Messina Denaro was captured
this morning by the Italian carabinieri in a private clinic in Palermo, the capital of Sicily.
"This is a
great victory
for the state against the mafia!" exclaimed the head of the Italian government ,
Gloria Meloni
, commenting on the news.
The Arma de Carabineros reported that Messina Denaro, 60, was arrested at the Madalena clinic in downtown Palermo while "following clinical therapies."
A video capture of the arrest of Matteo Messina Denaro.
Credit: Reuters
The Trapani mafia boss, considered the boss of the bosses of the Cosa Nostra in Sicily, was known to be
"gravely ill"
by the revelation made to him by his trusted mobster Salvatore Baiardo, who was arrested last year.
A priority mandate from Interpol had also made Messina Denaro
one of the most wanted criminals in the world
years ago , after some versions that he could have made trips abroad from Italy.
Messina Denaro was a very young mafia boss from the city of Messina and one of the right arms of the great boss Salvatore “Totó” Riina, who had carried out a terrorist strategy against the State.
Riina ordered the murder of magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in May 1992. He died in prison in November 2017.
The reconstruction that the police made of what Messina Denaro would be like today in order to capture him.
Photo: AFP
It is estimated that after Riina's arrest, exactly 30 years ago, on January 15, 1993, Messina Denaro was the favorite to inherit his successor Bernardo Provenzano, who succeeded him at the head of Cosa Nostra.
Since then there have been arrest warrants against him for numerous crimes.
There are only
vague photographs and old recordings of her voice
, which have allowed digital reconstructions of her current physiognomy.
Messina Denaro is also considered the
strategist behind the 1993 mafia terrorist attacks
in Florence, Rome and Milan in which ten people died for which he received several life sentences.
One of the few photos that were available until today of Messina Denaro-
The investigations that led to the Cosa Nostra superfugitive in prison were coordinated by the Palermo prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia and his deputy Paolo Guido.
The Italian agency ANSA reported that Messina Denaro has been transferred to a secret location.
The boss of the bosses of the mafia had regular check-ups and therapies at the Maddalena clinic.
Since last night, special units and policemen have discreetly taken over the private medical center to protect the other patients, ANSA said.
For years, Justice had been dismantling its multimillion-dollar empire of protections and financing.
Matteo Messina Denaro, after his arrest.
The siege on the mafia boss was perfected in September with the arrest of 35 faithful "picciotti" (soldiers) and bosses under his orders.
A week ago, Interior Minister Matteo Plantedosi gave another sign that Messina Denaro was surrounded.
"I support justice for the victims, that he be arrested and I trust the police forces and the magistracy," he had said.
Rome. Correspondent.
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