Several members of the family of
fugitive Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro have been
arrested and assets have been seized as part of the current
strategy to capture him, Palermo Prosecutor Teresa Maria
Principato told the parliamentary anti-mafia commission
Wednesday.
Messina Denaro, 53, has been on the lam since 1993. Interpol
has said that the Cosa Nostra boss, whose home fief is in
Agrigento, is among the 10 most wanted criminals in the world.
"We've arrested almost all of Messina Denaro's blood
relations - his sister, cousins, in-laws," she said.
"I thought this might spark a reaction in the man but he's
not normal. He's very cold."
The prosecutor said confiscating over a million euros' worth
of assets was a tactic aiming to hit the mobster's "deep
attachment to money".
Italian police in April arrested seven people in the
countryside around the Sicilian city of Agrigento in what they
said was a continuation of a "scorched earth" policy aimed at
trapping the elusive head of the Sicilian Mafia - a tactic that
won't work with him, the prosecutor warned lawmakers today.
Police said alleged bosses and accomplices, key parts of a
support network for the fugitive Cosa Nostra chief, held
meetings in the fields, walking around to evade possible
surveillance devices.
Messina Denaro has not been seen in public in more than 20
years.
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