Italy Mafia

Italy's mafia rarely dirties its hands with blood these days.

A boss from one of Italy's most violent mafias who escaped from a maximum security prison last year has been captured in France, authorities in both countries said on Friday.

Denaro died at the San Salvatore hospital in LAquila, central Italy, where he had been treated for colon cancer.

Italian police on Tuesday searched the Sicilian apartment where fugitive Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro lived before his arrest ended 30 years on the run, finding Prada shoes, condoms and Viagra -- but no weapons, media reports said.

The 60-year-old mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro was caught just outside a private clinic in Sicily's capital, Palermo, where he was receiving treatment for cancer.

Failing health, more than anything else, is what brought to an end 30 years of life as a fugitive for Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy's most wanted man until his arrest on Monday.

A dead dolphin on a doormat and windows smashed with sledgehammers. Weapons stored in cemetery chapels. Bribes to judges for acquittals, and bogus medical certificates letting convicted killers dodge prison.

Italy's mafia clans are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to buy favour with poor families facing financial ruin, prosecutors and officials say, and are offering loans and food in what is seen as an age-old recruitment tactic.

An Italian journalist assaulted over his coverage of mafia activity in Sicily and now living under police protection was presented with the Peter Mackler Award for his work on Wednesday.

Italian police on Saturday arrested top mafia fugitive Marco Di Lauro, the fourth son of ex-Camorra boss Paolo Di Lauro, after over 14 years on the run.

Pope Francis denounced the mafia's "blasphemous" existence on Saturday during a brief trip to Sicily to honour a priest murdered by the mob 25 years ago while trying to save youngsters in poor neighbourhoods from falling into their hands.

Italian police said Friday they had raided nine premises as part of an investigation into a Chinese criminal gang they suspect of being behind a spate of attacks on North Africans.

A convicted killer who was one of Italy's most wanted mafia bosses was arrested Sunday in an operation hailed by prosecutors as a historic breakthrough in the fight against organised crime.

A mafia chief in southern Italy has been arrested by detectives disguised as pizza boys who delivered food to his home as he was watching a football match, police said Sunday.

A one-eyed former neo-fascist gangster and 45 other defendants went on trial on Thursday accused of running a mafia crime ring in Rome that skimmed millions of euros off city hall contracts.

Italy's mafia rarely dirties its hands with blood these days.

A boss from one of Italy's most violent mafias who escaped from a maximum security prison last year has been captured in France, authorities in both countries said on Friday.

Denaro died at the San Salvatore hospital in LAquila, central Italy, where he had been treated for colon cancer.

Italian police on Tuesday searched the Sicilian apartment where fugitive Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro lived before his arrest ended 30 years on the run, finding Prada shoes, condoms and Viagra -- but no weapons, media reports said.

The 60-year-old mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro was caught just outside a private clinic in Sicily's capital, Palermo, where he was receiving treatment for cancer.

Failing health, more than anything else, is what brought to an end 30 years of life as a fugitive for Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy's most wanted man until his arrest on Monday.

A dead dolphin on a doormat and windows smashed with sledgehammers. Weapons stored in cemetery chapels. Bribes to judges for acquittals, and bogus medical certificates letting convicted killers dodge prison.

Italy's mafia clans are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to buy favour with poor families facing financial ruin, prosecutors and officials say, and are offering loans and food in what is seen as an age-old recruitment tactic.

An Italian journalist assaulted over his coverage of mafia activity in Sicily and now living under police protection was presented with the Peter Mackler Award for his work on Wednesday.

Italian police on Saturday arrested top mafia fugitive Marco Di Lauro, the fourth son of ex-Camorra boss Paolo Di Lauro, after over 14 years on the run.

Pope Francis denounced the mafia's "blasphemous" existence on Saturday during a brief trip to Sicily to honour a priest murdered by the mob 25 years ago while trying to save youngsters in poor neighbourhoods from falling into their hands.

Italian police said Friday they had raided nine premises as part of an investigation into a Chinese criminal gang they suspect of being behind a spate of attacks on North Africans.

A convicted killer who was one of Italy's most wanted mafia bosses was arrested Sunday in an operation hailed by prosecutors as a historic breakthrough in the fight against organised crime.

A mafia chief in southern Italy has been arrested by detectives disguised as pizza boys who delivered food to his home as he was watching a football match, police said Sunday.

A one-eyed former neo-fascist gangster and 45 other defendants went on trial on Thursday accused of running a mafia crime ring in Rome that skimmed millions of euros off city hall contracts.