Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro has been arrested in Sicily after 30 years on the run, the BBC reports.
Messina Denaro was reportedly detained in a private clinic in Sicily’s capital Palermo.
He is alleged to be a boss of the notorious Cosa Nostra mafia.
Italian media reported that he had been receiving treatment when he was captured just before 10:00 (09:00 GMT) and taken to a secret location by the Carabinieri.
Over 100 members of the armed forces are said to have been involved in the arrest.
A video circulated by Italian media appears to show people standing in the street and applauding the Italian police as Messina Denaro is led away.
Messina Denaro was tried and sentenced to life in jail in absentia in 2002 over numerous murders.
These include the 1992 killing of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the deadly 1993 bomb attacks in Milan, Florence and Rome, and the kidnapping, torture and killing of the 11-year-old son of a mafioso turned state witness.
The mafia boss also oversaw racketeering, illegal waste dumping, money laundering and drug trafficking for the powerful Cosa Nostra organized crime syndicate. He was reportedly the protege of Totò Riina, the head of the Corleone clan who was arrested in 1993 after 23 years on the run.
