Latest news with #MatteoMessinaDenaro
Metro
29-07-2025
- Metro
Sister of Sicilian mafia's 'last godfather' freed from prison
Matteo Messina Denaro's sister Patrizia Messina Denaro being arrested by Special Police at her home in Castelvetrano (Picture: Franco Lannino/EPA/Shutterstock) The sister of notorious Sicilian Mafia fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro has been freed from prison, sparking fears she will take control of his clan. Patrizia Messina Denaro, 55, has long been considered the right-hand woman in the Borgata headed by her brother, who once claimed to have murdered enough people to fill a cemetery. Messina Denaro was Italy's most wanted man until his arrest in January 2023, which came 30 years and a day after the capture of the Mafia's 'boss of bosses' Salvatore 'Toto' Riina, also after decades in hiding. While on the run, he was tried in absentia and convicted of dozens of murders, including helping to plan, along with other Cosa Nostra bosses, a pair of 1992 bombings that killed Italy's leading anti-Mafia prosecutors — Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. During those three decades on the run, Messina Denaro followed mafia tradition in communicating with relatives and affiliates via 'pizzini', small pieces of paper with orders and instructions, sometimes written in code. Chief among them was said to be younger sister Patrizia, who was suspected of overseeing the secret communications network, maintaining contact between the boss and his underlings. A computer generated image released by Italian Police of Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro (Picture: AP) A mugshot made available by Italy's Carabinieri of Messina Denaro (Picture: EPA) Notes found by investigators at the mob boss's hideout included direct references to his sister, including sums of money for legal and personal expenses such as '4,500 Avv. Patrizia' and '1,000 Pat'. One investigator said of Patrizia: 'To understand Matteo, you should meet his sister. '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.' The eldest Messina Denaro sister, Rosalia, also fell under investigators' spotlight during their quest to bring down the mob boss. Rosalia was arrested in March 2023, and put on trial as prosecutors similarly accused her of covering up for her fugitive brother, managing his finances and helping him liaise with the outside world. But she is still in jail, along with Messina Denaro's nephew Francesco Guttadauro, leaving Patrizia as the clan's natural successor. Dubbed by the Italian press as 'the last Godfather', Messina Denaro is not believed to have given any information to the police after he was seized outside a private clinic in the Sicilian capital, Palermo. According to medical records leaked to the Italian media, he underwent surgery for colon cancer in 2020 and 2022 under a false name. A doctor at the Palermo clinic told La Repubblica newspaper that Messina Denaro's health had worsened significantly in the months leading up to his capture. A file photograph of fugitive Sicilian godfather Matteo Messina Denaro (Picture: ANSA/AFP via Getty Images) The son of a mafioso, Messina Denaro was born in the southwestern Sicilian town of Castelvetrano in 1962. He followed his father into the mob and at 15, was already carrying a gun. Police say he carried out his first killing when he was 18. The Castelvetrano clan was allied to the Corleonesi, led by Riina, who became the undisputed 'boss of bosses' of the Sicilian mob, known as Cosa Nostra (Our Thing), thanks to his ruthless pursuit of power. Nicknamed 'U Siccu' (The Skinny One), Messina Denaro became his protege and showed he could be just as pitiless as his master, picking up 20 life-prison terms in trials held in absentia for his role in an array of mob murders. Messina Denaro went into hiding in 1993 as a growing number of turncoats started providing details of his role in the mob, but investigators believe he rarely wandered far from Sicily. Police say he spent much of 2022 hiding in Campobello di Mazara, a town of about 11,000, a short drive from his mother's house in western Sicily. He never married, but was known to have had a number of lovers. Messina Denaro wrote that he had a daughter, but had never met her. Italian media said the two saw each other after he was captured and that she had agreed to take his surname. Despite his notoriety, prosecutors have always doubted that Messina Denaro became the Mafia 'boss of bosses', saying it was more likely that he was simply the head of Cosa Nostra in western Sicily. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: Everything we know about New York City gunman Shane Devon Tamura Arrow MORE: New York gunman 'was targeting NFL headquarters but took the wrong elevator' Arrow MORE: Tommy Robinson 'boards flight' after being filmed shouting next to 'unconscious' man
Times
28-07-2025
- Times
Alarm in Sicily as sister of feared Mafia boss is released
The sister of Italy's most notorious mafia fugitive has been freed from prison and returned to her home town in Sicily, prompting concerns she could inherit the legacy of a man accused of 50 murders who once boasted he 'filled a cemetery' single-handed. Matteo Messina Denaro, the brutal Cosa Nostra boss from Castelvetrano, was a key figure in the 1992 assassinations of the anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, as well as the kidnapping of an 11-year-old boy who was held for two years before being strangled and dissolved in acid. For three decades he was Italy's most wanted man, running his empire from hiding with the help of a network of loyalists. He was arrested in January 2023 and died in prison eight months later . During his long fugitive years, family members helped run his criminal operations, smuggling handwritten instructions to businessmen, corrupt officials and clan leaders.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Yahoo
Italian police arrest 181 in bid to stop Mafia rebuilding in Sicily
Italian police have launched a series of raids targeting Mafia clans operating in and around the Sicilian capital Palermo. More than 1,2000 officers were involved in the operation, which the military Carabinieri force said was aimed at "dismantling" the area's Mafia. The raids, the biggest for several years, were seen as a bid by Italian authorities to stop the Mafia rebuilding its governing body known as a Cupola. A number of Mafia bosses have been released from jail in recent months on appeal. But investigators say those still behind bars have used encrypted mobile phones to continue their activities. They also found that Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia have updated the practices of their "founding fathers" and no longer need to meet in person. One local leader had managed to stay in hiding and still hold sway over organised crime in his local district, police explained. For more than 100 years Sicily's notorious Mafia held a grip on local towns and cities, extorting businesses through protection money and making big profits from drug trafficking. In the early 1990s crusading anti-mafia prosecutors were murdered as they tried to hit back. Then in 1993 the so-called boss of bosses, Salvatore "Toto" Riina, was arrested in Palermo, and in 2023 notorious mobster Matteo Messina Denaro was detained as he visited a local clinic. Although many mobsters are in jail, the Carabinieri said they had succeeded in smuggling tiny mobile phones into their cells in an attempt to continue their criminal activities. Police said they had found out about the mob's encrypted chats by installing listening devices in suspects' homes and cars. However, they are not yet thought to have cracked the encryption so their ability to eavesdrop has been limited. According to La Repubblica, police are still trying to hunt down members of the chat who go by nicknames such as Robert de Niro and Spider Man. Tuesday's raids began before dawn, targeting clans across Palermo, from Tommaso Natale in the north of the city to Porta Nuova in the centre. Police said their investigation covered a range of suspected offences, from mafia association and drug trafficking to attempted murder and armed crime. Several bosses who had already been freed from jail after serving sentences are among those arrested. Among them was reportedly Tommaso Lo Presti, who had spent 12 years in jail before his release in 2023. There was an outcry last year when it emerged Lo Presti had celebrated his silver wedding anniversary in a Palermo church where anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone was buried. Italian police arrest nun over links to mafia The man on the kill list of Italy's most powerful mafia
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Yahoo
Italian police arrest 181 in bid to stop Mafia rebuilding in Sicily
Italian police have launched a series of raids targeting Mafia clans operating in and around the Sicilian capital Palermo. More than 1,2000 officers were involved in the operation, which the military Carabinieri force said was aimed at "dismantling" the area's Mafia. The raids, the biggest for several years, were seen as a bid by Italian authorities to stop the Mafia rebuilding its governing body known as a Cupola. A number of Mafia bosses have been released from jail in recent months on appeal. But investigators say those still behind bars have used encrypted mobile phones to continue their activities. They also found that Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia have updated the practices of their "founding fathers" and no longer need to meet in person. One local leader had managed to stay in hiding and still hold sway over organised crime in his local district, police explained. For more than 100 years Sicily's notorious Mafia held a grip on local towns and cities, extorting businesses through protection money and making big profits from drug trafficking. In the early 1990s crusading anti-mafia prosecutors were murdered as they tried to hit back. Then in 1993 the so-called boss of bosses, Salvatore "Toto" Riina, was arrested in Palermo, and in 2023 notorious mobster Matteo Messina Denaro was detained as he visited a local clinic. Although many mobsters are in jail, the Carabinieri said they had succeeded in smuggling tiny mobile phones into their cells in an attempt to continue their criminal activities. Police said they had found out about the mob's encrypted chats by installing listening devices in suspects' homes and cars. However, they are not yet thought to have cracked the encryption so their ability to eavesdrop has been limited. According to La Repubblica, police are still trying to hunt down members of the chat who go by nicknames such as Robert de Niro and Spider Man. Tuesday's raids began before dawn, targeting clans across Palermo, from Tommaso Natale in the north of the city to Porta Nuova in the centre. Police said their investigation covered a range of suspected offences, from mafia association and drug trafficking to attempted murder and armed crime. Several bosses who had already been freed from jail after serving sentences are among those arrested. Among them was reportedly Tommaso Lo Presti, who had spent 12 years in jail before his release in 2023. There was an outcry last year when it emerged Lo Presti had celebrated his silver wedding anniversary in a Palermo church where anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone was buried. Italian police arrest nun over links to mafia The man on the kill list of Italy's most powerful mafia
BBC News
11-02-2025
- BBC News
Italian police arrest 181 in bid to stop Mafia rebuilding in Sicily
Italian police have launched a series of raids targeting Mafia clans operating in and around the Sicilian capital than 1,2000 officers were involved in the operation, which the military Carabinieri force said was aimed at "dismantling" the area's raids, the biggest for several years, were seen as a bid by Italian authorities to stop the Mafia rebuilding its governing body known as a Cupola.A number of Mafia bosses have been released from jail in recent months on appeal. But investigators say those still behind bars have used encrypted mobile phones to continue their activities. They also found that Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia have updated the practices of their "founding fathers" and no longer need to meet in person. One local leader had managed to stay in hiding and still hold sway over organised crime in his local district, police more than 100 years Sicily's notorious Mafia held a grip on local towns and cities, extorting businesses through protection money and making big profits from drug the early 1990s crusading anti-mafia prosecutors were murdered as they tried to hit in 1993 the so-called boss of bosses, Salvatore "Toto" Riina, was arrested in Palermo, and in 2023 notorious mobster Matteo Messina Denaro was detained as he visited a local many mobsters are in jail, the Carabinieri said they had succeeded in smuggling tiny mobile phones into their cells in an attempt to continue their criminal said they had found out about the mob's encrypted chats by installing listening devices in suspects' homes and cars. However, they are not yet thought to have cracked the encryption so their ability to eavesdrop has been to La Repubblica, police are still trying to hunt down members of the chat who go by nicknames such as Robert de Niro and Spider raids began before dawn, targeting clans across Palermo, from Tommaso Natale in the north of the city to Porta Nuova in the said their investigation covered a range of suspected offences, from mafia association and drug trafficking to attempted murder and armed bosses who had already been freed from jail after serving sentences are among those them was reportedly Tommaso Lo Presti, who had spent 12 years in jail before his release in was an outcry last year when it emerged Lo Presti had celebrated his silver wedding anniversary in a Palermo church where anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone was buried.
