Italy’s most wanted man, Matteo Messina Denaro has been arrested by cops in a private health clinic. He was being treated by the local doctors, as per the prosecutor, Maurizio De Lucia.
Since 1993 he has been an escapee and Europol considers him the most wanted criminal.
He is so-called the boss of the notorious Cosa Nostra Mafia. He was charged and sentenced to life in jail in absentia in 2002 over many murders.
Matteo Messina Denaro arrested as he was convicted over a huge count of murders:
- He killed anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992
- He was a part of deadly 1993 bomb attacks in Florence, Milan, and Rome.
- Kidnapping, and killing of the son of a son of a mafioso-turned-state witness
Matteo Messina Denaro arrested as he was also involved in racketeering, illegal waste dumping, money laundering, and drug trafficking for the powerful Cosa Nostra
It took more than 100 members of the armed forces to arrest him, according to the Défense minister.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tweeted: “A great victory for the state, which demonstrates that it does not give up in the face of the Mafia.”
Defense Minister Guido Crosetto called the arrest “a sign of a state that wins against Mafia.”