Factbox – How top Mafia boss Messina denaro was able to escape justice for over 30 years

By Alvise Armellini

ROME (Reuters – Matteo Messina Denaro was a mafia boss from Sicily who had been on the loose for over 30 years. Here are some key facts regarding his arrest and what they mean:

WHY IS THE EAREST SO IMPORTANT

Messina Denaro (60) was the last fugitive member of a group of mobsters that planned a series of bombings, murders, and terror attacks on Italy in the 1990s.

His arrest finally ends that dark era. It shatters the symbol of resistance to Italy’s state and could reveal Mafia secret information in the unlikely event Messina Denaro is willing to talk to investigators.

He was involved in numerous killings, including those of Paolo Borsellino (top prosecutors) and Giovanni Falcone (top prosecutors). The adolescent son a Mafia turncoat, whose body had been dissolved in acid, was also among them.

MESSINA DENARO: HOW DID MESSINA DENARO SUSPEND ARREST FOR SO LONG

Although no one knows the truth, there are long-standing suspicions that Messina denaro was a covert agent for politicians and other establishment connections. He was pursued by a retired prosecutor for many years, who blames unspecified Freemasonry circles.

Teresa Principato stated that she believed a Masonic network had protected him around the globe. She said she had evidence that he was in Spain, Venezuela, and Britain.

Roberto Saviano, a crime writer, pointed out that Antonio D’Ali (a former junior justice Minister) was convicted of collusion with Messina Denaro’s family. He was a former Prime Minister Silvio Bernlusconi’s deputy in 2001-2006.

After police found out that Messina Denaro had cancer, he was finally caught in Palermo.

WHAT’S NEXT IN THE SICILIAN MAFIA?

Experts describe Sicily’s Cosa nostra, whose fame was amplified by films such as “The Godfather”, to be an ailing crime organization facing many difficulties, including competition on the highly lucrative drug market.

“Messina denaro was the last Godfather. He represented all the secrets and Cosa Nostra. It is the end to a myth, and the organization will have to deal with it,” Anna Sergi, an expert on organised crime at Essex University in England, said.

Cosa Nostra still controls its Sicilian bedrock, and has the ability to penetrate the wider economy. However, it is being supplanted by the Calabrian Ndrangheta in the drug trade.

Alfonso Sabella was an anti-Mafia magistrate who said that Cosa Nostra is only the third-largest criminal organization in Italy, after the ‘Ndrangheta, and the mob centered around Foggia in southern-east.

Who is NOW THE BOSS OF BOOSSES?

Messina Denaro was the ruler of Trapani, in western Sicily. However, Palermo Chief prosecutor Maurizio De Lucia stated that he had never been “sole” leader for Cosa Nostra.

De Lucia said that part of the reason for the change is that the so-called “bossa of bosses”, as Mafia tradition dictates, is only available to mobsters in Palermo, Sicilia’s capital.

Salvatore “Toto”, Riina and Bernardo Provenzano were the previous supremos. They spent decades on the run prior to their arrest. Both men were killed in prison. Provenzano was one year earlier and Riina in 2017.

MESSINA DENARO: WHAT’S THE NEXT?

The mobster was transported to a high security prison in central Italy to undergo the harsh “41 bis” system, where prisoners are kept in small cells and under constant video surveillance.

Messina Denaro, who is currently in prison, will continue receiving cancer treatment. He might also be called to testify at other Mafia trials.

($1 = 0.9225 euros)

(Reporting by Alvise Armillini, editing by Gavin Jones

Previous post How many units can you consume each week?
Next post Kevin Stefanski issues statement regarding Jim Schwartz’s hiring