Italian Carabinieri police have arrested Matteo Messina Denaro, who is accused of being a boss of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra mafia. He was detained at a private hospital in Palermo, Sicily, where he was receiving treatment,
In 2002, Denaro was sentenced in absentia to a life term for orchestrating the murders of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992.
He also faces a life sentence for organizing bomb attacks in Rome, Milan and Florence that claimed ten lives in 1993.
Denaro was nicknamed “Diabolik” (“Devilish”, “Fiendish”) and was infamous for his cruelty. In March 1993, he was summoned to the court to testify, prompting him to flee. His whereabouts have remained unknown until now.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni congratulated the law enforcement officers and called the operation a great victory for the state. She stressed that her government will keep fighting organized crime without letup.