Rome: A private clinic in Maddalena was quickly surrounded by armed police. They abducted an elderly man at gunpoint who was admitted for chemotherapy. The other patients, who were afraid of everything, came to know the secret following a while. Matteo Messina Denero (60) was arrested. A Sicilian underworld kingpin who has been eluding the police for 30 years.
He tried to run away from the police but was unable to because he was exhausted from chemotherapy. Matteo’s face, which had been etched in the minds of the Sicilians until then, had completely changed. Instead of ferocity, an old man’s face was replaced by tiredness. Another information came out from the hospital. For the past one year, he had been coming regularly for cancer treatment.
Matteo’s atrocities have been the subject of Hollywood films including The Godfather. There are cases once morest him including killing a 12-year-old boy in acid. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni responded that this is a decisive victory in the fight once morest the mafia.
Denero is a self-described “good believer.” He grew up in the underworld hunting down mafia-fighting officials.
He made headlines in 1992 when he killed prosecutor Giovanni Falcone, who had moved once morest the mafia. In 1993, when 10 people were killed in bomb attacks in Florence, Rome and Milan, the fear grew. In the same year, his son, Giuseppe Di Matteo, a 12-year-old boy, was kidnapped to teach the young man who had testified once morest him. The child was killed following being held hostage for two years. With this the fear grew. He has been running the underworld since 1993 in hiding. In 2021, there was a controversy when a man was arrested from Holland for pretending to be Mateo.
Bernardo Pravanzano holds the record of being the mafia boss who has been on the run for the longest time. He has been fooling the Italian police for 38 years.
