Hot on the heels of reports that the most wanted Mafia superboos, Bernardo Provenzano is alive yesterday came the new that Cosa Nostra's elusive superboss has been arrested by police near his home town of Corleone.
The Mafia chieftain's identity was confirmed by DNA testing and he has been transferred to a secret location, the prosecutor added.
Provenzano, 72, had been a fugitive for over 43 years and became the undisputed 'boss of bosses' of the Sicilian Mafia after the January 1993 arrest of Salvatore ('Toto') Riina. Police sources said Provenzano was arrested in the countryside outside Corleone, south of Palermo. No further details were given except that he made no statements at the time of his arrest.
Corleone was made famous in the Hollywood film about the Mafia, The Godfather, and gave its name to the fictional family in the trilogy. Mafia informers said Provenzano moved between farmhouses in the region every two or three nights to evade capture.
Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi immediately sent a message to Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu congratulating him on Provenzano's arrest. Up until recently Provenzano's whereabouts and even his physical appearance were shrouded in mystery.
Investigators got a break when they learned that he had travelled to a Marseilles clinic for prostate surgery under an assumed name. They then arrested the Sicilian politician who obtained identity papers for the fugitive and he later turned state's witness.
Information offered by doctors and nurses at the clinic allowed computer experts to construct a more accurate identikit image of the fugitive.
Crowds gathered outside the police headquarters and shouted "Bastardo!" at Provenzano as soon as he appeared. They also congratulated the policemen.
Until then all police had to go on was a photograph taken over 40 years ago for Provenzano's identity card, before he went on the run. It has, so far, been such a difficult task as Provenzano was supported by a large network of politicians and businessmen, as well as the Mafia's local network.
Last month, Italy's new Anti-Mafia chief Piero Grasso has expressed optimism that the superboss would soon fall into the police net.
