11 Mafia arrests as police move closer to Messina Denaro
Clan 'decapitated' near fugitive Cosa Nostra No.1's power base
December 16, 2011

(ANSA) - Rome, December 16 - Italian police made 11 arrests Friday in an operation they said moved them closer to fugitive Cosa Nostra chief Matteo Messina Denaro.

Police said the operation had "decapitated" a powerful clan in Campobello di Mazara, near Messina Denaro's power base in the western Sicilian city of Trapani.

Among those arrested was the mayor of Campobello, Ciro Carava'.

The investigation, which began five years ago in 2006, discovered that the Campobello family kept up "close contact" with the hiding boss of bosses.

To increase its power, police said, it had managed to "progressively penetrate business and economic activities in the area through blanket control of the territory," police said.

Those arrested, including the mayor who has been in power since 2006, are all charged with Mafia conspiracy as well as false declaration of assets.

Italian police have been closing in on Messina Denaro for the last few years and in July were able to issue a new identikit picture of the Sicilian Mafia's fugitive head.

The image of Denaro, 49, was aged to update a previous identikit issued in 2007, a year after he took over Cosa Nostra following the arrest of Bernardo Provenzano.

Listed by Forbes magazine as among the 10 most wanted criminals in the world, Messina Denaro has been on the run since 1993.

A year ago police were able to reconstruct his DNA.

The genetic profile of the so-called 'Godfather of Trapani' was identified through tests on biological evidence, including hair, obtained from Messina Denaro's brothers without their knowledge.

Identifying the DNA was considered a major breakthrough because he has never been arrested.

Copies of his fingerprints taken when he was drafted for military service have long since been destroyed.

Messina Denaro built up his power base in his native Trapani before beating Palermo chieftains to become Mob kingpin after 'boss of bosses' Provenzano was caught in 2006 after 43 years on the run.

His position at the top of Cosa Nostra was assured with the November 2007 arrest of Palermo boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo, a veteran mafia chieftain who had appeared to be vying with the younger mobster for control of the crime syndicate and had the apparent support of the 'old guard'.

Messina Denaro is currently believed to be expanding his criminal empire abroad and police have found evidence of trips to Austria, Greece, Spain and Tunisia.

Nicknamed 'Diabolik' after a cult Italian comic strip criminal, Messina Denaro sealed a reputation for brutality by murdering a rival Trapani boss and strangling his three-months pregnant girlfriend.

He is reportedly idolised by Cosa Nostra younger troops because of his ruthlessness and playboy-like charisma.

For the last three years police have been implementing a 'scorched earth' strategy to try and flush Messina Denaro out, arresting scores of his underlings and seizing millions of euros in assets.

"The circle is closing around the No.1 fugitive," ex-interior minister Roberto Maroni said last year.

Palermo Chief Prosecutor Francesco Messineo added at the time that their aim of their strategy against Messina Denaro was to "dry up the water he swims in".

http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2011/12/16/visualizza_new.html_14645202.html

Good article Ivy like always, do you have a picture of the "aged" Messina Denaro?

This is what they think he looks like now...

Do you think denaro will resort to violence if he feels threatened? Because it seems the police have said that the "net has been tightening around him" a couple times now, and nothing has happened.

He's blind as a fucking bat, I love it. lol

Police have been saying he's close to being captured for years now. He's still way too insulated and protected. I don't care who they just arrested. All it is is more anti-mafia media headlines to look good right before Christmas. They do it every year.

edit: The only difference is now Berlusconi is no longer protecting him. I said it before that I wonder now that Berlusconi is no longer in charge, how long will it be...

I would just like to add that these articles are almost verbatim. Same shit. They always mention the same thing about his brutality due to how he killed the boss of Trapani and strangled his 3-month pregnant girlfriend. One thing that is always misunderstood is that it was the boss's girlfriend that MMD strangled, NOT his own. People for whatever reason always misunderstand that.
I'm surprised this time they left out the part about how he claims to have filled a cemetery of bodies all on his own.

That's true, Carm. But it was still pretty brutal of him to kill ANY pregnant woman.

Don't you agree?

mmd is sure the hardest boss to catch these days he has connections at every level (local, national, international)
although he's not the boss of bosses he is sure the richest

I suppose. But not surprising. It was his rival at the time (the boss of Trapani) and the girlfriend of. It wasn't as if he went out and killed some random woman.
The rules don't apply over there. Being that, there are no rules. Women, children, no exclusions.

Man that is the best aging simulation I've ever seen. All the ones I've seen up until now looked like crap. I guess the technology is improving.

lol, the only problem is that MMD is only 49! That simulation has him looking like a 70 year old.

Oh, I agree 100 percent, Carm.

"The Godfather" films are often criticised for not being all together realistic, and I suppose that's a justified criticism. But the beginning of Part 2, where the Sicilian mob boss puts the contract on a 9 year old Vito, was right on the money. That shit goes on to this day. You needn't look any further than the Inzerillos as an example.

A guy like Totò Riina was capable of just about anything.

LMAO yeah he looks way older on his "aged" photo compared to his real age but sometimes that sort of life will make a man age faster.