Who is Matteo Messina Tenaro, the “diabolic” mobster caught in Italy?

(CNN Spanish) — Fugitive and under consideration since 1993 Europol Italian mafia boss Matteo Messina Tenaro, one of Europe’s most wanted men, was arrested by police while receiving medical treatment in Sicily. case.

But who is “Diabolik,” as this Cosa Nostra kingpin is known? Why was he so sought after?

Tenaro is considered One of the heirs of Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano, who was arrested outside Corleone, Sicily in April 2006.

It was Condemned Absent life in 1992 for his role in the murders of anti-Mafia lawyers Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Porcellino, and he was responsible for dozens of other Mafia-related murders.

“Diabolik” was reportedly spotted in September 2021, leading to a manhunt and hundreds of leads. According to Lawyer Mauricio De Lucia.

He was arrested on Monday, January 16, during a dawn raid by special agents of the anti-Mafia carabinieri while he was being treated at a clinic in Palermo, Sicily. According to data, born in 1962 Europol60 years old and an Italian citizen.

During his years as a fugitive from justice, Tenaro continued to lead the Sicilian Mafia through a network of collaborators, some of whom had no criminal record and never claimed any ties to organized crime. A shepherd, a dairy farm owner, a truck driver and an inspector, Agree with the Italian authorities.

These “men of honor” Kidnapped Denaro’s order. They secretly met in remote parts of the countryside and delivered letters from the boss – or “pizzini” – using carefully coded language as they spoke to avoid detection, a police news release said.

In 2015, 11 of them collaborated Arrest Tenaro’s organization was believed to have been hit hard by Italian police, although he was only caught on Monday.

Tenaro was considered the successor to Bernardo Provenzano, who was captured in 2006 as the head of the Sicilian Mafia. Then the researchers Jumped About Provenzano – a fugitive since 1963 – in the town of Corleone, near his hometown in Sicily, famous for appearing in the “Godfather” novels by Mario Buso.

Provenzano, then 73 years old Accused By officers who have taken charge of Cosa Nostra with an iron fist since his inauguration.

With information from Barbie Latza Nadeau, Antonia Mortensen and Laura Smith-Spark.