Related: Italy's Mafia Godfather arrested in Sicily   

 

The Mafia kingpin Bernardo Provenzano was arrested Tuesday at a farmhouse outside Corleone, Italy. He was convicted by Italian courts over multiple murder cases, but was at large for 43 year.(Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

   BEIJING, April 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Bernardo Provenzano, the Mafia's "boss of bosses" since 1993, was nabbed Tuesday at a farmhouse outside Corleone, Italy, the hilltop town made famous in The Godfather movies.

    Authorities said that the 73-year-old Mafia kingpin did not resist arrest. But Italy's State broadcaster RAI reported that the mob boss, upon his arrest, glared at the police officer who commanded the farmhouse raid and told him: "You don't know what a mistake you are making." 

    The dramatic capture of Provenzano is Italy's biggest success against organized crime in 13 years. Provenzano was once called "the Phantom of Corleone", because most people believed he would never be caught. 

    A fugitive for 43 years, Provenzano was convicted by Italian courts in absentia. He was given life sentences for killing more than a dozen other mobsters and anti-Mafia investigators.

    Law enforcement and Mafia experts say Provenzano's unexpected apprehension was hardly a crippling blow to the vicious Sicilian mob.

    "This is a very big event, but this does not mean that the Mafia is finished or even substantially weakened," said Leoluca Orlando, a newly elected member of Italy's Parliament, "It is not so fragile as to be undone by one capture, no matter how dramatic."

    The arrest of Provenzano leaves a power vacuum to be filled within the Sicilian Mafia. "Usually, there is a change at the top every 10 or 15 years. The selection process probably started only a few hours after Provenzano was taken into custody," Orlando said.

    Mafia experts speculate that Salvatore Lo Piccolo, 63, and Matteo Messina Denaro, 46, are  Provenzano's most likely successors. Both men have been on the run for years: Lo Piccolo since 1983; and Messina Denaro, known as "The Playboy" because of his affinity for girlfriends and gold watches, since 1993, they said.

    It was unclear if there would be a peaceful transition or if the two men might fight to determine who would become the next boss of bosses.

    "There might be some kind of understanding between leading figures, or there might be a bloody battle between the two of them and perhaps other top Mafia leaders to see who will take control," they said.

    The Sicilian Mafia, along with the Ndrangheta in Calabria and the Camorra in Naples, are three major organized crime branches in Italy. The Mafia earns billions of dollars a year by smuggling cigarettes, alcohol and other goods; running extortion rackets and prostitution rings; and skimming money off government contracts in areas such as port operation, property development, and waste disposal. Enditem

    (Agencies)