THELASTGODFATHER

By Coco Ferrari '26

“They finally caught him.” After 30 years on the run, Italy’s most wanted mafia boss was finally arrested in Palermo, Sicily. On January 16, 2023, Matteo Massina Denaro was captured at a clinic whilst he was receiving chemotherapy While this wasn't a very high stakes arrest, considering he was sixty years of age, it was an extremely important arrest to the Italian Carabinieri.

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At the time of his arrest, Denaro was using the false identity of Bonafede, another well-known mafia boss His arrest led authorities to the extremely important mafia boss, Andrea Bonafede Bonafede was convicted as one of the masterminds behind the 1992 bombings - one of which killed Italy's top anti-mafia magistrate, Giovanni Falcone, and the other which killed a fellow magistrate, Paolo Borsellino, just two months later. Denaro had been on the run since 1993 and was sentenced in absentia to a life term for the murders he carried out in the early 1990s. Bonafede is suspected of running and leading “Cosa Nostra", an Italian terrorist and crime organization since the early 19th century with over 5,500 members. He was additionally suspected of helping Denaro to carry out his role as a major mob boss

Bonafede was able to elude law enforcement and access national healthcare without revealing his real identity. This not only gave unexpected hope to the Italian government who have been struggling for years to catch these criminals, but proved that even in the southern regions of Italy, where the state is perceived as ineffective and absent, law enforcement was able to catch one of the top most wanted men in Italy. This has also made Italian officials rethink their organized crime units in the country to further benefit the speed at which they obtain their suspects. This will further instill fear and overall education throughout organized crime in Italy. Police and investigators of the case recently disclosed to the public that they suspected that Bonafede also received €20,000 (£17,500) from Denaro to be able to buy a mansion in western Sicily that later became one of Denaro’s hideouts.

Some of Denaro’s crimes include: racketeering, illegal waste dumping, money laundering and drug trafficking During the searches of his many mansions, authorities reportedly found: first class Airline ticket receipts, receipts from expensive restaurants, incredibly expensive jewelry, and posters from films such as, “The Godfather,” and, “Joker,” and a black Alfa Romeo Giuletta car He is also suspected to have killed ten people and injured hundreds.

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For being the last fugitive member of a generation of mafia mobsters who terrorized Italy, Denaro was billed as the, “Last Godfather.”