ITALY
Messina Denaro – the “last godfather” – arrested
January 17, 2023 - Messina Denaro, Cosa Nostra’s last “secret-keeper”, is believed to hold the key to some of the most heinous crimes perpetrated by the Sicilian Mafia.
The arrest of Italy’s most-wanted Sicilian Mafia boss ended a 30-year hunt for a gangster convicted in absentia of the 1992 murders of Italy’s two most famous anti-mafia prosecutors, and of other crimes.
For years, Messina Denaro had been a symbol of the state’s inability to reach the upper echelons of the organised crime syndicates.
Messina Denaro was a disciple of the Cosa Nostra’s most powerful 20th century boss, Salvatore “Totò” Riina, who was arrested 30 years ago and died in prison in 2017.
But on Monday, the most wanted mafioso in Italy was finally captured, seized in a private clinic in the Sicilian capital Palermo after police found out he was receiving treatment there for cancer.