The news of the arrest of Denaro became the main story for the Italian media on January 16th. He was detained in the morning in a day hospital at the Maddalena private clinic in Palermo, the capital of Sicily. According to the ANSA agency, the 60-year-old mobster suffers from chronic kidney disease, and he was due for dialysis. Meanwhile, Vergilio claims that Denaro had a swab and was waiting for the results of other tests before his scheduled chemotherapy session. According to the publication, the mafioso was operated on in 2021 due to liver metastases resulting from colon cancer. Doctors Denaro provided documents in the name of Andrea Bonafede. In this clinic he was treated for more than a year.
The carabinieri arrested and took Denaro in a black van with tinted windows to the police station “to the applause of the people of Palermo,” writes La Repubblica. The Virgilio portal published a video where Denaro is taken out by two carabinieri. About 100 military personnel were involved during the arrest. Together with the head of the mafia, Giovanni Luppino, his driver, was arrested, accused of aiding and abetting. He accompanied the boss to the clinic, the newspaper Il Messaggero writes.
“A great victory for the state, which has shown that it does not give up in the face of the mafia,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tweeted about Denaro’s arrest. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini expressed gratitude to law enforcement officers on the social network. “This is a beautiful day for Italy, which serves as a warning to the mafia: … our uniformed heroes never give up,” Salvini tweeted.
Matteo Messino Dinaro chose a criminal path, following his father, the Sicilian mafia Francesco Messina Denaro, better known as Don Ciccio. Matteo Sr. began his career as a campiere (armed guard) and “rose” to the leadership of the Mafia-controlled Castelvetrano region of Sicily (became the so-called capo mandamento) and the position of head of the Mafia Commission (the governing body of Cosa Nostra; created in 1931).
Francesco taught his son to shoot at the age of 14, and at the age of 18 he committed the first murder. Later, the father sent a promising son to study with Salvatore Riina (also known as Toto Riina – the former head of Cosa Nostra, nicknamed Shorty). Riina adored his student, noted The New York Post (NYP). The future “big mafioso” has established himself as a reliable “foot soldier”: when he was ordered to kill, he carried out the order without even thinking.
In one of the notes found by the police during regular raids, Denaro wrote: “You can fill an entire cemetery with the people I killed.” Among his victims are: a pregnant girlfriend of one of the fighters of a rival “family”, a defector who wanted to testify against the mafia, the hotel manager, who showed signs of attention to Denaro’s mistress, and many others.
He even had a hand in organizing the murders in 1992 of two anti-mafia judges, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. When the first was returning home from the Sicilian airport, a section of the highway exploded under his car. This required no less than 1100-2000 pounds (about 500-900 kg) of explosives. A little more than a month after the death of Falcone, the mafia blows up Borsellino, along with five policemen escorted.
In 1993, the authorities arrest Riin, and the mafia mobilizes forces to respond to the authorities – they were a series of terrorist attacks, from which all of Italy shuddered that year. The explosions killed 10 people.
Meanwhile, not all the fighters of Cosa Nostra survived the war with the authorities. One of them, Santino di Matteo, after being caught by the authorities, decided to break the omerta (the code of silence against aiding the state) and testify in the Falcone case. The “family” of betrayal could not forgive and committed a bloodthirsty act – they kidnapped 12-year-old Giuseppe di Matteo, the son of Santino. The idea of the mafia bosses – Giovanni Brusca and Matteo Messino Denaro – was that the kidnapping would convince the child’s father of the need to keep his mouth shut. For 800 days, the mafia tortured little Giuseppe. Despite holding the child captive, the court handed down a life sentence to Brusca in absentia for the murder of Falcone. Then he ordered the hostage removed – Giuseppe was strangled, and his body was dissolved in acid.
For numerous murders and terrorist attacks, Denaro was twice sentenced to life in prison.
According to people who knew Denaro, he loves luxury clothes, expensive accessories, cars, and has a reputation as a “real playboy”, being the father of two children, writes NYP. Rumor has it that Denaro always wears Ray Ban sunglasses, but it’s hard to confirm, because the head of Cosa Nostra avoids cameras.
The head of the Sicilian mafia is fond of computer games and comics. By the way, he borrowed the nickname “Diabolik” from the elusive thief from the famous Italian comics. He managed to hide from the authorities, including thanks to self-control and “pizzini” – small notes in which he gave out orders to subordinates. “Never mention the name of a wanted person with whom you are doing business. Do not talk in cars, because there may be bugs, talk outdoors and away from phones, ”La Stampa cites Denaro’s teachings for his fighters in one of the pizzas.
The caution of the head of the Sicilian mafia was so great that the police had only a few photographs of him taken in his youth. For a rough understanding of how Denaro might look decades later, experts used digital projections. Sources of Il Messaggero do not exclude that Denaro made a facial plastic surgery to differ from his image in the photo kept by the police. There are also rumors that he allegedly underwent surgery on his fingertips so that no Denaro could not leave prints.
In addition, Denaro brought Cosa Nostra to a new level, moving away from the stereotype of the deeply conservative views of the “families” of the mafia. He “balanced between criminal brutality and political pragmatism, while earning income from legitimate businesses such as green energy or online casinos,” writes La Stampa. In addition to controlling the import of hard drugs from South America to Europe, Denaro, according to the people of Sicily, owned a local chain of supermarkets. He made mafia weapons not pistols and machine guns, but technology, business, corruption, cybercrime, says Luigi Ciotti, founder of the anti-mafia association Libera.
Matteo Messina Denaro was “the last boss of the Sicilian mafia of the first magnitude,” Italian media say. He is also called the last “keeper of secrets” of “Cosa Nostra”. According to sources and authorities, he has all the information and information about those involved in the most high-profile mafia crimes in Italy. But success in investigating cases against the mafia depends on Denaro and his willingness to cooperate with the investigation.
And there is a chance that the “boss of bosses” will still commit an omerta. The arrest of his brother and sister, several dozen close associates, age and serious illness significantly weakened Denaro. This is also evidenced by the absence of attempts of tough resistance to arrest. According to ANSA, the head of the Sicilian mafia, when asked by a police officer to give his name, answered honestly: “I am Matteo Messina Denaro.” Although he tried to avoid the conversation, he still gave up.
“The Cosa Nostra Mafia, which consists of the “families”, provincial and regional Commissions, that is, its governing structure, no longer exists. Matteo Messina Denaro was her last follower,” the authorities are sure.
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