Italy nabs mob boss after 24 years on the run

Times:

Italian authorities hailed the dramatic arrest yesterday of Salvatore Lo Piccolo, an alleged Mafia godfather on the run for 24 years, as a “decisive turning point” in the fight against organised crime.

Mr Lo Piccolo’s son Sandro, 32, was also captured in the raid on an apparent mobsters’ summit outside Palermo, along with two others. Sandro Lo Piccolo, in tears, shouted “I love you, Dad” as he and his father were led away. Salvatore, 65, wanted since 1983, was one of the two alleged heirs of Bernardo Provenzano, the “boss of bosses” who was arrested at a dilapidated farmhouse near Corleone last year.

Giuliano Amato, the Interior Minister, said that the capture of Mr Lo Piccolo – known in Cosa Nostra as “the Baron” – was “of extraordinary importance”. Sicily’s regional governor, Salvatore Cuffaro, said that he hoped it would be “a mortal, definitive blow to Cosa Nostra”.

Romano Prodi, the Prime Minister, described the arrests as “a success for the State and all honest people”. Francesco Messineo, the chief prosecutor in Palermo, said: “With these arrests we can proceed to dismantle the criminal apparatus in Palermo. They were the reference point for all economic activity by organised crime.”

...


Osama bin Laden has not been on the lamb that long, yet. It does give some idea of how long it can take to capture leaders of criminal organizations and dismantle their operations. That is why some want to call the war with al Qaeda the "Long War."

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