Italian police arrest long-sought Mafia boss

Matteo Messina Denaro rides in the back of a police vehicle following arrest.
Matteo Messina Denaro rides in the back of a police vehicle following arrest. Italian Gendarmerie (Carabinieri) Press Service / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Italian authorities on Monday arrested Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro at a private clinic in Sicily. Denaro, Italy's most wanted fugitive, had been on the run for 30 years, The Washington Post reports.

The arrest marked a "landmark moment" in Italy's decades-long fight against organized crime, the Post said. "A great victory for the state," Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni added in a statement. Denaro has been on Italy's most wanted list for three decades. He has been convicted in absentia for dozens of murders and faces multiple life sentences. Denaro is also allegedly the leader of the Cosa Nostra crime syndicate.

Pasquale Angelosanto, commander of Italy's Carabinieri police, said officers captured Denaro as he sought treatment for an unspecified illness at a Palermo clinic.

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