ITALY — The most wanted Italian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro was arrested in Sicily after 30 years on the run.
According to reports, Messina Denaro was detained while undergoing cancer treatment in Palermo, the capital of Sicily.
He was prosecuted and given a life sentence in prison in absentia in 2002 for a number of killings; he is suspected of being a boss of the infamous Cosa Nostra Mafia.
According to BBC, his arrest was carried out with the assistance of more than 100 military personnel.
According to Italian media, the Carabinieri apprehended Messina Denaro soon before 10:00 (09:00 GMT) and took him to a hidden location. According to reports, he went to the clinic under a false identity to receive chemotherapy.
In a video circulated by Italian media, people standing in the street and applauding the Italian police can be seen as Messina Denaro is led away.
The charges of murder he was framed including the 1992 killing of anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.
Likewise the deadly 1993 bomb attacks in Milan, Florence and Rome was also believed to be handiwork of the Italian Mafia boss Matteo Messina got arrested.
He was also involved in the kidnapping, torture and killing of the 11-year-old son of a mafioso.
Many insiders allege that the mafia boss had the information of those involved in high-profile crimes including the bomb attacks that killed magistrates Falcone and Borsellino.
Giuseppe Falcone and the other victims of the 1992 bombing were honoured at a memorial in Sicily today, where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spent a minute of silence.
The surprise arrest however brought in praise for the military’s work from all political spheres.
The prime minister applauding good work of the armed forces said that the arrest of mafia boss was victory against the criminals.