Italy’s most wanted mafia boss Messina Denaro arrested

Rome [Italy], January 17 (ANI): After 30 years on the run, Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro was arrested in Sicily, police said.

Matteo Denaro was arrested from a private health clinic in Palermo possibly set to undergo plastic surgery, a CNN report said quoting prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia as saying on Monday. Denaro has been a fugitive since 1993 and was considered by Europol as one of Europe’s most wanted men.

Italy’s chief of Police, Lamberto Giannini, told CNN: “It is a victory for all the police forces that have worked together over these long years to bring the dangerous fugitive to justice.” He congratulated the Carabinieri, Italy’s military police, and the Palermo Public Prosecutor’s Office.

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.”
Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto called the arrest “a sign of a state that wins against Mafia.”

Denaro was taken into police custody at around 10 am (local time) after a raid was carried out by more than 100 specialised agents with anti-Mafia Carabinieri in the early hours of the morning.

It is not known what treatment he was receiving. However, the Maddalena clinic where he was arrested is a private clinic known for plastic surgery and other elective surgeries, according to CNN.

Denaro is being held in a secret location, the Carabinieri press office told CNN on Monday.