After 30 years on the run, Matteo Messina Denaro, the most wanted Italian mobster and leader of Cosa Nostra, has finally been arrested. According to official sources, he is a ruthless man nicknamed “Diabolik”, who is said to have once presumed that he could fill a cemetery with his victims.
The dangerous Sicilian mafia boss was detained in a clinic in Palermo, Sicily, and faces several life sentences, having long ago been tried without being present and convicted of dozens of murders.
Matteo Messina had been a fugitive since 1993, but it is believed that he continued to give orders to the criminal network he led from various secret locations. In addition, he is believed to have overseen various organized crime activities, including money laundering, drug trafficking, and illegal dumping for Cosa Nostra.
According to information from the BBC, the 60-year-old criminal leader was arrested at the clinic where he went under a false name to receive treatment for colon cancer. The general of the National Carabinieri Police, Pasquale Angelosanto, reported his arrest.
Today, January 16, the carabinieri arrested the fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro inside a health facility in Palermo, where he had gone to receive therapeutic treatment.
His crimes included the murders of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, as well as the deadly bombings in Milan, Florence and Rome in 1993 and the kidnapping, torture and murder of a mobster’s 11-year-old son who had become a state witness. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was satisfied with the arrest of the mobster.
A great victory for the State that showed that they did not rent in front of the mafia. All’indomani dell’anniversario dell’arresto di Totò Riina, an other capo della criminalità organized, Matteo Messina Denaro, comes assicurato alla giustizia. pic.twitter.com/8d6sHaDloK
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) January 16, 2023
A great victory for the State that shows that it does not surrender to the mafia. Following the anniversary of the arrest of Totò Riina, another leader of organized crime, Matteo Messina Denaro is brought to justice.