Italy’s most wanted gangster believed to be the boss of Cosa Nostra, Sicilian Matteo Messina Denaro, who has been on the run for 30 years, has been arrested in Palermo, Sicily, Italian media reported on Monday.
“Today, January 16, the Carabinieri (…) arrested the fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro in a healthcare facility in Palermo, where he had undergone clinical therapies,” said General of the Carabinieri, Pasquale Angelosanto, of the AGI agency.
Sentenced to life imprisonment for murder
The almost 62-year-old, who has been on the run since 1993, is considered the successor to the two great historic bosses of Cosa Nostra, Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano, who both died in prison. The former Cosa Nostra trigger was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia for murder.
Matteo Messina Denaro was arrested by the Italian police in Sicily. (Portal/Carabinieri)
It was “a great victory for the state that shows that it is not giving up in the face of the mafia,” said Prime Minister Georgia Meloni in a press release following the announcement. According to her, this is about the arrest of the “most important” current representative of the Italian mafia. She also assures that in her country “the fight against mafia crime continues unabated”.
“After 30 years on the run, super boss Matteo Messina Denaro has been arrested. It is with great emotion that I thank the men and women of the state who never gave up and who confirm the rule that sooner or later even the biggest criminals are arrested while trying to escape,” said Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.
“Wonderful news”, “a historic result”, commented Matteo Renzi, former Prime Minister. “It’s a holiday for the whole country (…) a day of happiness,” he wrote on Twitter.
L’arresto di Matteo Messina Denaro is a notizia bellissima, is a risultato storico. Questa è una giornata di festa per tutto il paese. Complimenti a chi ci ha lavorato a cominciare da inquirenti e forze dell’ordine. Oggi un giorno di felicita. Well done. Long live Italy 🇮🇹
— Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) January 16, 2023
Equal jubilation alongside former Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who greeting the work of the Palermo Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Carabinieri and “all the Italian authorities involved”.
Since the 2000s, the Italian police have multiplied the arrests and seizures in his wake in a strategy of isolation that has so far not borne fruit. In 2015, police discovered that he forsook modern communication methods to convey his orders to his men via the traditional “pizzini,” those small pieces of paper often containing encrypted messages.