{"id":253776,"date":"2023-01-16T10:36:13","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T16:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=253776"},"modified":"2023-01-16T11:43:29","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T17:43:29","slug":"matteo-messina-denaro-cosa-nostras-last-godfather-arrested-in-sicily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/matteo-messina-denaro-cosa-nostras-last-godfather-arrested-in-sicily\/","title":{"rendered":"Cosa Nostra\u2019s \u2018Last Godfather,\u2019 Matteo Messina Denaro, Arrested in Sicily"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy\u2019s most wanted Mafia figure, has been arrested in the Sicilian capital, Palermo, after more than three decades on the run.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Messina
Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro was Italy\u2019s most wanted man until his arrest on Monday, He is believed to have killed around 50 people and masterminded a series terror bombings in Italy in the 1990s. (Image: The Times<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Messina Denaro is alleged to be the boss of the Cosa Nostra, the secretive Sicilian criminal society that controls protection rackets, prostitution, drugs, and illegal gambling<\/a>, with a sphere of influence that stretches far beyond the Mediterranean island.<\/p>\n

Messina Denaro, 60, was detained Monday morning inside a health facility where he had gone for \u201ctherapeutic treatment,\u201d Italy\u2019s Carabinieri said.<\/p>\n

Terror Attacks<\/h2>\n

In 2002, Messina Denaro was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for the 1992 murders of anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. They were killed at a time when the Cosa Nostra was waging an open war with the Italian state. He was also sentenced for masterminding terrorist bomb attacks in Florence, Rome, and Milan a year later, which killed 10 people and caused widespread public outrage.<\/p>\n

Nicknamed \u2018\u2018Diabolik,\u201d Messina Denaro began his criminal career as a Cosa Nostra hitman, rising through the ranks under a ruthless former boss, the late Salvatore Riina, known as Belva, or \u201cThe Beast.\u201d Messina Denaro is estimated to have murdered around 50 people, once boasting, \u201cI filled a cemetery all by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The Cosa Nostra is the most famous Italian Mafia group, thanks to movies such as The Godfather.<\/em> But it has grown weaker since its 1990s reign of terror. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Since then, many of its leaders have died or have been incarcerated in maximum security prisons, where they have little contact with the outside world. Meanwhile, the Sicilian clans have lost ground to other criminal groups, notably the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta, which controls much of the international drug trade.<\/p>\n

Betting Operations<\/h2>\n

In 2018, Italian police busted a Cosa Nostra-linked illegal gambling operation that included an online betting company owned by Italy\u2019s so-called \u201cKing of Betting,\u201d Benedetto Bacchi. <\/a><\/p>\n

The operation included a network of over 700 illegal betting shops throughout Italy. The Palermo-based operation generated around \u20ac1 million in profits per month, with \u201cbetween \u20ac300,000 and \u20ac800,000\u201d of that sum distributed among various Mafia families, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

Messina Denaro was the last godfather, he represented all the secrets of Cosa Nostra,\u201d Professor\u00a0 Anna Sergi, an expert in organized crime at England’s Essex University, told Reuters<\/em> Monday. \u201cIt is the end of a myth, and the organization will have to cope with this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“If Cosa Nostra wants to rebuild the leadership it had in the past it needs directives. But there are no big chiefs anymore,” she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy\u2019s most wanted Mafia figure, has been arrested in the Sicilian capital, Palermo, after more than three decades on the run. Messina Denaro is alleged to be the boss of the Cosa Nostra, the secretive Sicilian criminal society that controls protection rackets, prostitution, drugs, and illegal gambling, with a sphere of influence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":253778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[84544,13765,84545],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMatteo Messina Denaro, Cosa Nostra\u2019s \u2018Last Godfather\u2019 Arrested in Sicily<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy\u2019s most wanted man, arrested in Sicily, Mafia man was 30 years on the run.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/matteo-messina-denaro-cosa-nostras-last-godfather-arrested-in-sicily\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matteo Messina Denaro, Cosa Nostra\u2019s \u2018Last Godfather\u2019 Arrested in Sicily\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy\u2019s most wanted man, arrested in Sicily, Mafia man was 30 years on the run.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/matteo-messina-denaro-cosa-nostras-last-godfather-arrested-in-sicily\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-16T16:36:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-16T17:43:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Denaro.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"987\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/matteo-messina-denaro-cosa-nostras-last-godfather-arrested-in-sicily\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/matteo-messina-denaro-cosa-nostras-last-godfather-arrested-in-sicily\/\",\"name\":\"Matteo Messina Denaro, Cosa Nostra\u2019s \u2018Last Godfather\u2019 Arrested in Sicily\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/matteo-messina-denaro-cosa-nostras-last-godfather-arrested-in-sicily\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/matteo-messina-denaro-cosa-nostras-last-godfather-arrested-in-sicily\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Denaro.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-16T16:36:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-16T17:43:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy\u2019s most wanted man, arrested in Sicily, Mafia man was 30 years on the run.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/matteo-messina-denaro-cosa-nostras-last-godfather-arrested-in-sicily\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/matteo-messina-denaro-cosa-nostras-last-godfather-arrested-in-sicily\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/matteo-messina-denaro-cosa-nostras-last-godfather-arrested-in-sicily\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Denaro.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Denaro.jpg\",\"width\":1480,\"height\":987,\"caption\":\"Mafia Matteo Messina Denaro was Italy\u2019s most wanted man until his arrest Monday, He is believed to have killed around 50 people and masterminded a series terror bombings in Italy in the 1990s. 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