Messina Denaro, a convicted murderer who has eluded authorities for 30 years, is thought to be the leader of the notorious Cosa Nostra organized crime group.
Gen. Pasquale Angelosanto, who leads the Carabinieri’s special operations squad, said Messina Denaro was arrested at a private clinic in Palermo where he was being treated for an unspecified medical issue.
A picture released by police early Monday showed Messina Denaro in a police car — visibly older than in his 1990s mugshots — alongside two officers.
Police warned in September last year that despite his low profile, Messina Denaro could still issue commands to organized crime groups around the western Sicilian city of Trapani.
He was sentenced to life in prison — at a trial, he did not attend — for his part in the murders of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992.
He faces a further life sentence for involvement in bomb attacks in Rome, Florence, and Milan in 1993.
MNA/PR