• Latest
  • Trending
Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro arrested in Sicily

Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro arrested in Sicily

January 16, 2023
GHc 1 dumsor levy: govt is taking 5.7 billion from Ghanaians-Kojo Oppong Nkrumah

GH¢1 dumsor levy: govt is taking 5.7 billion from Ghanaians-Kojo Oppong Nkrumah

June 9, 2025
GRNMA Strike: Health Ministry holds emergency talks with GRNMA

GRNMA Strike: Health Ministry holds emergency talks with GRNMA

June 9, 2025
GRNMA Strike:Ibrahim Adjei slams govt over failure to appease striking nurses

GRNMA Strike: Ibrahim Adjei slams govt over failure to appease striking nurses

June 9, 2025
Bawumia playfully teases Bryan Acheampong over NPP flagbearership interest

Bawumia playfully teases Bryan Acheampong over NPP flagbearership interest

June 9, 2025
GHc1 dumsor levy: we thought this administration would be better- Ernesto Yeboah slams govt

GH¢1 dumsor levy: We thought this administration would be better- Ernesto Yeboah slams govt

June 9, 2025
NO SERIOUS LAWYER WILL ADVISE ‘SICK’ OFORI-ATTA TO RETURN TO AN ATMOSPHERE OF ANIMOSITY – BENTIL

No serious lawyer will advise ‘sick’ Ofori-Atta to return to an atmosphere of animosity – Bentil

June 9, 2025
REVITALISE ANTI-CORRUPTION FIGHT IN AFRICA – VEEP

Revitalize anti-corruption fight in Africa – Veep

June 9, 2025
Gov’t did not communicate the introduction of Fuel levy well – Appiah Danquah

Gov’t did not communicate the introduction of Fuel levy well – Appiah Danquah

June 9, 2025
Los Angeles immigrant protests: Police launch lethal resistance as protestors intensify

Los Angeles immigrant protests: Police launch lethal resistance as protests intensify

June 9, 2025
High Court of England warns lawyers to desist from practice with A.I generated law cases

High Court of England warns lawyers to desist from practice with A.I generated law cases

June 9, 2025
CCY DESCRIBES DUMSOR LEVY AS ROBBING PETER TO PAY PAUL

CCY described dumsor levy as robbing Peter to pay Paul

June 9, 2025
Thomas partey headlines the fourth edition of all star festival, accra 2025

Thomas partey headlines the fourth edition of All Star Festival, Accra 2025

June 9, 2025
Happy Ghana
Advertisement
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sports
    • International Sports
    • Afcon2017
    • Afcon2019
    • Corporate Knockout
    • U17 World Cup
    • World Cup 2018
  • Entertainment
  • Business
  • Bizarre
  • Feature
  • More
    • Technology
    • Opinion
    • Lifestyle
  • Listen Live
  • Home
  • News
  • Sports
    • International Sports
    • Afcon2017
    • Afcon2019
    • Corporate Knockout
    • U17 World Cup
    • World Cup 2018
  • Entertainment
  • Business
  • Bizarre
  • Feature
  • More
    • Technology
    • Opinion
    • Lifestyle
  • Listen Live
No Result
View All Result
Happy Ghana
No Result
View All Result
Home News International News

Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro arrested in Sicily

in International News
Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro arrested in Sicily
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Whatsapp

Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro has been arrested in Sicily after 30 years on the run.

Messina Denaro was reportedly detained in a private clinic in Sicily’s capital, Palermo.

He is alleged to be a boss of the notorious Cosa Nostra mafia.

Italian media reported that he had been receiving treatment when he was captured just before 10:00 (09:00 GMT) and taken to a secret location by the Carabinieri.

More than 100 members of the armed forces are said to have been involved in the arrest.

A video circulated by Italian media appears to show people standing in the street and applauding the Italian police as Messina Denaro is led away.

Messina Denaro was tried and sentenced to life in jail in absentia in 1992 over numerous murders.

These include the 1992 killing of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the deadly 1993 bomb attacks in Milan, Florence and Rome, and the kidnapping, torture and killing of the 11-year-old son of a mafioso turned state witness.

Messina Denaro once boasted he could “fill a cemetery” with his victims.

The mafia boss also oversaw racketeering, illegal waste dumping, money-laundering and drug-trafficking for the powerful Cosa Nostra organised crime syndicate. He was reportedly the protege of Totò Riina, the head of the Corleone clan, who was arrested in 1993 after 23 years on the run.

Clans nicknamed Messina Denaro “Diabolik” – the name of an uncatchable thief in a comic book series – and “U Siccu” (Skinny).

He is thought to be Cosa Nostra’s last “secret-keeper”. Many informers and prosecutors believe that he holds all the information and the names of who were involved in several of the most high-profile crimes by the Mafia, including the bomb attacks that killed magistrates Falcone and Borsellino.

Although Messina Denaro had been a fugitive since 1993, he was thought to have still been issuing orders to his subordinates from various secret locations.

Over the decades, Italian investigators often came close to catching Messina Denaro by monitoring those closest to him. This resulted in the arrest of his sister Patrizia and several other of his associates in 2013. Police also seized valuable businesses linked to Messina Denaro, leaving him increasingly isolated.

However, few photos of Messina Denaro existed and police had to rely on digital composites to reconstruct his appearance in the decades after he went on the run. A recording of his voice was not released until 2021.

In September 2021, a Formula 1 fan from Liverpool was arrested at gunpoint in a restaurant in the Netherlands after being mistaken for Messina Denaro.

Italians were glued to the screens on Monday morning when news of the arrest of the mafia boss broke.

For years, Messina Denaro had been a symbol of the state’s inability to reach the upper echelons of the organised crime syndicates. His arrest will be an unexpected sign of hope that the mafia can be eradicated even in the southern regions of the country, where the state is perceived as largely absent and ineffective.

Tributes to the work of the armed forces poured in from across the political spectrum.

Gian Carlo Caselli, a judge and former prosecutor general, said that the arrest of Messina Denaro was an “exceptional… simply historical event” that might lead to significant developments in the ongoing inquiries into the 1993 bomb attacks that killed 10 people across Italy.

Italy’s PM Giorgia Meloni thanked the armed forces for their work in detaining the “most important member of the mafia criminal group”, adding: “This is a great victory for the state.”

Subscribe to receive notification everytime a new post is published. We promise to be discrete.

Unsubscribe
Previous Post

Shakhtar president donates $25m of Mudryk transfer fee to Ukraine war effort

Next Post

Ugandan President urges overseas travel ban for MPs

Next Post
Ugandan President urges overseas travel ban for MPs

Ugandan President urges overseas travel ban for MPs

Search

No Result
View All Result

Listen Live

BBC Match of the Day Africa

Happy Ghana

Recent News

  • GH¢1 dumsor levy: govt is taking 5.7 billion from Ghanaians-Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
  • GRNMA Strike: Health Ministry holds emergency talks with GRNMA
  • GRNMA Strike: Ibrahim Adjei slams govt over failure to appease striking nurses
  • About
  • advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2025 Happy FM – Powered by Ghana’s leading radio network. Designed with passion by Global Media Alliance.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sports
    • International Sports
    • Afcon2017
    • Afcon2019
    • Corporate Knockout
    • U17 World Cup
    • World Cup 2018
  • Entertainment
  • Business
  • Bizarre
  • Feature
  • More
    • Technology
    • Opinion
    • Lifestyle
  • Listen Live

© 2025 Happy FM – Powered by Ghana’s leading radio network. Designed with passion by Global Media Alliance.