Mafia superboss Matteo Messina Denaro has been arrested by Italian police after spending the last 30 years on the run. The raid by law enforcement officers – coordinated by Palermo prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia and assistant prosecutor Paolo Guido – was carried out Monday morning inside the “La Maddalena” clinic in Palermo, which specializes in oncological treatment.
The fugitive and head of the Castelvetrano criminal syndicate had gone to the private clinic “to undergo treatment” – as reported by special forces commander Pasquale Angelosanto. Messina Denaro was then taken to a police barracks in Palermo soon after his arrest.
“A great victory for the country, that shows we will not give up in the face of the Mafia,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni commented. “On the day after the anniversary of Totò Riina’s arrest, another organized crime boss is brought to justice,” the premier continued.
L’arresto di Matteo Messina Denaro è la notizia che molti aspettavano da troppi anni #messinadenaro pic.twitter.com/qO8IlgQiHc
— MargheritaCarpinteri (@margheritacarp) January 16, 2023
“Great satisfaction for a historic achievement in the fight against the Mafia,” Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said upon learning the news of Matteo Messina Denaro’s arrest upon his arrival in Ankara to meet his Turkish counterpart.
The son of a former mob boss, Matteo Messina Denaro had been a fugitive since the summer of 1993. The 61-year-old criminal was sentenced to life imprisonment for dozens of murders, including that of the Giuseppe Di Matteo, the 15-year-old son of a Mafia turncoat who ended up strangled and dissolved in acid after nearly two years of imprisonment, for the 1992 massacres against judges Falcone and Borsellino, as well as for the following year’s bombings in Milan, Florence and Rome.
Messina Denaro was the last “mega-boss” still at large after the arrests of his loyal allies Totò Riina, who escaped handcuffs for 23 years, and Bernando Provenzano, who managed to avoid jail time for a record 38 years.
