Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro has been arrested in Palermo. Sicily’s notorious Cosa Nostra mafia owned a successful company
Matteo Messina Denaro was one of the World’s most wanted criminals.
He was captured in January 2023 after 30 years in hiding. This is what we know about him.
Source: Daily Star
Who is Matteo Messina Denaro?
Matteo Messina Denaro, also known as Diabolik, is a Sicilian Mafia boss.
He is believed to be one of the new leaders of Cosa Nostra.
Denaro comes from a very powerful and well-respected Mafia family and was born in Castelvetrano, Sicily, on April 26, 1962.
Matteo is alleged to have learned to use a gun at 14 and committed his first murder at 18.
He was once quoted as saying: “I filled a cemetery all by myself.”
Source: DW
What is Matteo Messina Denaro accused of?
Matteo Messina Denaro is thought to have played a prominent role in the terrorist campaign that swept through Sicily in 1993.
The Italian police had implemented a strict prison regime and had arrested Mafia boss Salvatore Riina, and the Cosa Nostra wanted to scare the state away.
The Cosa Nostra conducted a series of bomb attacks in the Via dei Georgofili in Florence, Via Palestro in Milan, Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano, and Via San Teodoro in Rome, which left 10 people dead and 93 injured.
TV journalist Maurizio Costanzo just about escaped a car-bomb attack. Costanzo often spoke out against the Mafia.
After the 1993 bombings, Denaro went into hiding.
On May 6, 2002, Denaro was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for his role in the terrorist attacks of 1993.
When was Matteo Messina Denaro arrested and where is he now?
Denaro was arrested by Italian police on January 16, 2023, after 30 years on the run.
He was captured in a private hospital in Palermo, whilst receiving treatment for an undisclosed medical condition.
According to BBC News, Messina Denaro was reportedly detained in a private clinic in Sicily’s capital Palermo.
Over 100 members of the armed forces are said to have been involved in the arrest.
Messina Denaro was tried and sentenced to life in jail in absentia over numerous m*rders.
The Mafia may fight among themselves in bloody turf wars, but they always band together when against the state. When a fellow member is on the run, it is customary to help them evade capture.
There is reason to believe that Denaro has a good relationship with both Provenzano and the Graviano clans, and so may have been hiding with either of their families.
Source: Genius Celebs
What’s Matteo Messina Denaro’s net worth?
Matteo Messina Denaro is worth an estimated £2.5 billion.
Denaro loves fast cars, designer sunglasses, and sharp suits.
The Mafia makes a profit of over £83 billion a year, which is equivalent to seven percent of Italy’s gross domestic product, says business group Confesercenti.
This makes the Mafia Italy’s wealthiest “company”.
Does Matteo Denaro have a wife?
Denaro does not have a wife, or at least he has not made it public.
Denaro has a reputation for being a bit of a playboy and a womanizer, so settling down wouldn’t suit his style.
Who are Matteo Messina Denaro’s siblings?
Matteo has a sister, Patrizia Messina Denaro.
She was arrested on suspicion of helping her brother evade capture.
An investigator said of Patrizia: “She is aggressive, determined, and happy to use her surname to scare extortion victims.
“It was her first arrest, and although she didn’t say much, she was defiant and communicated with her eyes, which is a Sicilian thing.”
Does Matteo Messina Denaro have children?
Denaro’s daughter Lorenza Alagna was born in 1996.
Lorenza was born out of wedlock. This is quite controversial in the Mafia as they tend to adhere to conservative family values.
