Author Topic: Top Mafia boss caught in Italy (Read 548 times)

Jome · « **on:** April 11, 2006, 11:02:18 AM »

Bernardo Provenzano, top mafia boss, who started his career as a brutal hitman for the Corleone family, is arrested by masked Police.

The picture on the left is the last picture of Provenzano, taken in 1959, the drawing in the middle is based on witness information, right picture is how police computers imagined Provenzano to look in 2006.

'Top Mafia boss' caught in Italy

The man considered to be the head of the Sicilian Mafia, Bernardo Provenzano, has been arrested after more than four decades on the run.

Italian police said 73-year-old Provenzano, deemed the country's most wanted man, was arrested near his home town of Sicily.

He was sentenced in his absence to life in prison for a string of murders.

Police believe he took over command of the Mafia after the 1993 arrest of ex-boss Salvatore "Toto" Riina.

Provenzano's capture is an important victory for law and order in Sicily, where the police still fight Mafia crime on a daily basis, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome.

BERNARDO PROVENZANO
1933: Born in the Sicilian Mafia stronghold of Corleone
1963: Goes on the run after arrest warrant is issued against him
1993: Thought to have taken over as head of the Mafia

Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi expressed his delight over the arrest to Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu, a statement from the presidential palace said.

"His capture is an exceptionally important success because it makes it possible to hand over to justice the present head of Cosa Nostra [the Sicilian Mafia] and put an end to a flight that has lasted too long," Sicilian judges said in a joint statement.

Legendary figure

Provenzano has been on the run for more than half his life. Police say he was arrested in the countryside near Corleone, where he was born and where his wife and children live.

Corleone was made famous in the Hollywood film about the Mafia, The Godfather, and gave its name to the fictional family in the trilogy.

Police said Provenzano was wearing a blue jacket and jeans and put up no resistance when he was arrested.

Onlookers shouted "Assassin" and "Bastard" when he was later brought to police headquarters in the Sicilian capital, Palermo.

Provenzano's disguises and daring are legendary, our correspondent says.

He devised a personal protection system to escape arrest and never communicated with his friends except by written notes carried by trusted lieutenants, our correspondent says.

Many times, police announced they were on the point of tracking him down, but he always appeared to escape at the last moment.

eKardz · « **Reply #1 on:** April 11, 2006, 11:25:34 AM »

too bad he got caught

white Boy · « **Reply #2 on:** April 11, 2006, 11:40:15 AM »

^ i guess, i mean, i hate wen criminals and mafia bosses go to jail

K A I N · « **Reply #3 on:** April 11, 2006, 12:24:13 PM »

Mo Z. Dizzle · « **Reply #4 on:** April 11, 2006, 04:05:00 PM »

he looks like a sinista mista

gav09 · « **Reply #5 on:** April 11, 2006, 04:29:15 PM »

Dudes bin on the run 4 43 years! LOL! Guy must be a sneaky bastard!

Don Jacob · « **Reply #6 on:** April 12, 2006, 12:01:00 AM »

wow i didn't know corleone actually exhisited

Timmeeeehh · « **Reply #7 on:** April 12, 2006, 02:40:58 AM »

Quote from: gav09 on April 11, 2006, 04:29:15 PM

Dudes bin on the run 4 43 years! LOL! Guy must be a sneaky bastard!

Yeah, he had some real influence if you don't get caught for so long.. damn.

Quote from: Don Jacob on April 12, 2006, 12:01:00 AM

wow i didn't know corleone actually exhisited

It's a small village on Sicily, because "The Godfather" in the movie was born there he called himself Corleone

Don Rizzle · « **Reply #8 on:** April 12, 2006, 03:08:12 AM »

Quote from: Thoughtful on April 12, 2006, 02:40:58 AM

Quote from: gav09 on April 11, 2006, 04:29:15 PM
Dudes bin on the run 4 43 years! LOL! Guy must be a sneaky bastard!

Yeah, he had some real influence if you don't get caught for so long.. damn.

especially in such a small country, but the guy was smart didn't let no but the most trusted people get anywhere near him, in this age where so many mafia guys turn snitch it pretty amazing he lasted this long.