Matteo Messina Denaro, 60, who has been on the run since 1993, was arrested at a private clinic in the Italian city of Sicily, prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia said on January 16.
According to The Guardian, Denaro was once considered a candidate for the position of mafia Sicily boss, after the deaths of Bernardo Provenzano in 2016 and Salvator Riina in 2017.
nicknamed Diabolik or U Siccu (the thin one), Denaro was born in Castelvetrano, Sicily, in 1962. Denaro's father is a powerful boss of the mafia Sicily (Cosa Nostra), and Denaro plays a key role in the family business, building a billion-dollar illegal empire in waste, wind power and retail.
According to prosecutors, Denaro was behind the most notorious crimes committed by mafia Sicily, including the bombing that killed legendary judges against mafia Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. In 2002, Denaro was sentenced to life in absentia for directly killing or ordering the death of dozens of people.
Denaro seems to have maintained his lavish lifestyle. Investigators have long said Denaro was being concealed by powerful tripoint associations in Italy's Trapani province.
The task of determining Denaro's location is complicated because there are almost no recent photos. With just a few identifying photos taken in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Italian government has recreated Denaro's appearance using digital technology, using the latest computer technology.
Year after year, the Italian police continuously seize Denaro's businesses and arrest more than 100 accomplices, including his cousin, nephew and sister of his "grandfather".
