Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy’s most wanted fugitive, has been arrested after evading jail time for 30 years.
The BBC reported that this “most-wanted” man is a mafia boss and, after many years on the run, has finally been taken into custody.
Information about the arrest
While there are no reports on what exactly the medical condition is, the notorious mafia boss was arrested at a clinic while receiving a treatment for a tumor, according to The Guardian.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tweeted following the announcement of the arrest that this was “a great victory for the government,” according to The Charlotte Observer.
Business Insider reported that after being detained, Messina Denaro had tried to run away from the clinic but ultimately surrendered to authorities.
The location of the private clinic has remained unnamed and Messina Denaro was reportedly sentenced in absentia to life in prison.
About Italy’s most wanted fugitive
Messina Denaro otherwise known as “Diabolik” and “U Siccu” has been wanted for his “role in the 1992 murders of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino,” according to Reuters.
It is also reported that he has been found guilty for other crimes such as bombings and mass murders.
“We captured the last of the massacre masterminds,” Palermo Chief Prosecutor Maurizio De Lucia said. “It was a debt that the Republic owed to the victims of those years.”
The Guardian reported that investigators are still in pursuit of missing documents in a “secret archive” that were in Messina Denaro’s possession before his arrest. These documents allegedly hold information regarding the last 40 years of mafia murders.
Reactions to the arrest
Many people took to social media to post about the arrest of Messina Denaro.
Business Insider reported that people were clapping and cheering after the arrest.
ABC News reported that “shortly after his arrest, the sun peeked through, and a rainbow could be seen in the sky over the clinic.”
Carabinieri Col. Lucio Arcidiacono told reporters, “He didn’t resist at all.”