Matteo Messina Denaro, an extraordinary arrest worthy of Italian cinema

ITALY – “He was standing in line for a Covid-19 test, like many patients at the clinic. Nobody ever thought it was Matteo Messina Denaro. » Italy’s most wanted mobster, Matteo Messina Denaro from Sicily, on the run for 30 years, was arrested in Palermo, Sicily, on Monday 16 January. At the age of 60, this member of the underworld is known as “ Octopus ” considered the successor to the great historical leader of Cosa Nostra.

And details about the conditions of his arrest are worthy of Italian cinema, as the director of the La Maddalena clinic in Palermo says. The mafia is waiting “among patients with pseudonym, Andrea Bonafede, born in 1963, outside the clinic area”, testify Stefania Filosto to Corriere della Sera.

According to the Italian press, Matteo Messina Denaro has been treated for at least a year for colon cancer. And this Monday morning, clinic patients were treated to an unusual sight. “Suddenly, a member of the armed police appeared, at the sight of the boss, old and sick, trying to run away before the carabinieri caught him”said Stefania Filosto.

” What’s your name ? “

” What’s your name ? “, asked the carabinieri, reports the Milan daily. Brief response from the mobster, sentenced in absentia in 2000 to life in prison for murder and in 2020 for notorious anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone: “I am Matteo Messina Denaro. » A video from the carabinieri shows a frail man, fully clothed and surrounded by two military personnel, entering a law enforcement vehicle, as you can see in the footage below:

If he seems weak, the former fugitive wears it anyway “luxury goods”, underlined deputy prosecutor Paolo Guido during a press conference. Specifically, he wears a 35,000 euro watch on his wrist.

Based on Corriere della Serathe judges followed the trail“Andrew Bonafide” for several weeks, but confirmation of the true identity of the mafia has intervened ” three days ago “. They then gave the green light for his arrest on Monday, a day after the 30th anniversary of the arrest of Toto Riina, who was nicknamed “ belva » (“the beast”), who has reigned terror for 20 years within the Cosa Nostra, which he has controlled since the 1970s.

“Everything happened in a few minutes”underlined the director of La Maddalena. “He started running away on foot, old and in bad shape. Me, I’m trying to calm the sick, worried to see this chase with armed men. » Nevertheless, carabinieri “doing a very good job, without causing panic among the patients and their relatives waiting inside and outside the clinic”believes Stefania Filosto.

Dozens of murders

However, La Maddalena has “secured last night”with “a few dozen men to protect the patient”si said Corrierewhich signifies that the former fugitive will soon be transferred from Palermo airport to a high-security prison.

Former Cosa Nostra instigator, Messina Denaro should be serving a life sentence for dozens of murders, including that of little Giuseppe Di Matteo, son of a converted mafioso, strangled and dissolved in acid after two years of imprisonment, or even for attacks in Florence, Milan and Rome in 1993. “With the people I kill, I can make a grave”he confessed.

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