Italy’s Most-Wanted Mafia Boss Arrested After 30 Years on the Run

Convicted Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro has been captured after 30 years on the run, the Associated Press reports.

Denaro, 60, was arrested on Monday in Sicily’s capital of Palermo. Denaro had been a fugitive since 1993, and was considered the top boss of Italy’s Cosa Nostra even while a fugitive.

Denaro was captured at the Palermo clinic where he was receiving treatment for an “undisclosed medical condition,” Carabinieri Gen. Pasquale Angelosanto, leader of the police force’s special operations squad, told the AP. He is said to be responsible for multiple murders, most notably the infamous 1992 killings of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

Denaro recently checked into the clinic under an alias, which helped investigators locate him prior to Monday’s arrest. “It all led to today’s date (when) he would have come for some tests and treatment” at the clinic,” Angelosanto told reporters, adding that Denaro “didn’t resist at all” during the arrest. 

“A great victory for the state which demonstrates that it does not give up in the face of the mafia,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on Twitter. “Another head of organized crime, Matteo Messina Denaro, is brought to justice.”

“A beautiful day for all of Italy. The nation is proud of you,” Meloni added.