Campobello di Mazara is a town in Sicily of 11,000 souls practically unknown in Italia. Hardly anyone had heard of him until this week. The arrest of Matthew Messina Moneyfugitive since 1993 and with about 50 murders To his credit, he has turned things around. The reason is that Campobello of Mazara It is the place where, according to the investigators, the head of the Cosa Nostra Sicilian, who during his long flight was also wanted abroad, was hiding until his detention Last monday.
there the police discovered and searched in the last few hours a townhouse in a cul-de-sac and on whose first floor perfumes, watches and luxury clothing were found, as well as documents that are expected to provide new clues about the secrets of the Sicilian mafia. But this is not the only detail that has attracted attention, but rather the town in question is located in the province of Trapani, only about 15 minutes by car from Castelvetrano, where Messina Denaro was born 60 years ago. Messina Denaro, the last major representative of that mafia that operated with attacks and bombs in the 1990s, lived in this establishment under the false name of Andrea Bonafede, the same one he used on Monday when he was arrested at a health clinic in Palermo.
The fact has given rise to dozens of chroniclers traveling to the site in search of information about the ringleader’s lair. The result has been strange scenes. A neighbor, for example, commented that he only said “good morning” to the gangster and had no idea who he was. “Why should I be suspicious? He seemed like a normal person, he was always alone,” he added. “I remember him as a young man as a good person and Ray Ban glasses,” said another woman, who said she knew the wife of Messina Denaro’s brother.
the protection net
The snapshot collides with other parallel realities that are becoming known after the arrest of the mafia boss. The first is the citizens who on Monday in Palermo celebrated with applause and gestures of appreciation the arrest of the fugitive. The second is the many statements by the researchers themselves about something that seems certain: Messina Denaro was only able to hide for so many years thanks to a widespread protection net that reached to the bowels of society. A hidden network that is still active.
The capture of the mafia boss “is a positive sign, but we must not forget that for 30 years he has been a fugitive. This means that he had very strong protection, ”he said. Sebastiano Ardita, of the Superior Council of the Italian Magistracy and a veteran of the fight against the mafias. “Today there is an open debate about this flight that in past years has caused moments of lack of coordination to be recorded within the state“, has added. In fact, it is believed that Messina Denaro was in various locations before his arrest in Palermo.
This will be one of the investigators’ priorities in the coming weeks and months: to identify who protected Messina Denaro, even allowing her to take care of her health with regular medical appointments, as she explained. Maurice de Lucia, one of the Palermo prosecutors in charge of the case. There is “a mafia bourgeoisie”, Lucia had already said on Monday. With this, a doctor, a certain Alfonso Tumbarello, who took care of the mafioso’s health and who, according to the first reconstructions, had ties to the People of Liberties, a coalition (today defunct) founded by former prime minister Silvo Berlusconi. “I knew nothing”, Tumbarello has already defended himself.
Riina’s Treasure
It’s not the only secret that researchers hope to uncover. The so-called treasure of Toto Riinaanother great mafia boss (who died in 2017), of which Messina Denaro was a lieutenant, who came to accumulate millions of euros thanks to his illicit business and was one of the minds of that strategy of the attacks that convulsed Italy at the end of the last century. Some, however, have pointed out that the arrest of the elderly criminal leader occurs when he is already very ill, after having attacked various cancers, some of which could be fatal in the short or medium term.
Even the most active associations in the antimafia fight They have insistently stressed that it is not yet the time to consider the battle won. “This fight does not end here”, has indicated the Anti-Mafia and Legality Association. The reason is that “it is still necessary to identify the ‘refined minds’ of which he spoke John Falcone (the murdered anti-mafia judge) and the ‘traitors’ he was referring to Paolo Borsellino (judge also assassinated), who are behind the many mysteries and unresolved crimes in the country.”