Mafia boss Edgardo Greco was captured after hiding out for years as a pizza chef
Another Mafia-related arrest was brought about by a story about a pizza chef.
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The backstory: The Italian anti-Mafia squad made headlines in January after busting the elusive "godfather" of the Sicilian Mafia, Matteo Messina Denaro. After 30 years on the run, he was finally nabbed by police at a health clinic in Palermo, Sicily.
More recently: Another Mafia-related arrest was brought about by a story in the French journal Le Progrès about a pizza chef at the Caffè Rossini Ristorante in Saint-Etienne, France. It turns out the chef was actually former Calabrian 'Ndrangheta boss Edgardo Greco. The article was shared on the restaurant's Facebook page, leading police to his location.
The development: The police arrested Greco last Thursday. He'd been on the run for 16 years and was working under a fake name, which he also used actively on social media. Greco has a long rap sheet, including a double murder conviction from 1991 and several attempted murders of prison officials, which gave him the nickname "prison killer."
Authorities are on a hunt for four other top-level mafia bosses still at large, including Pasquale Bonavota, Giovanni Motisi, Renato Cinquegranella and Attilio Cubeddu. The police are using all their resources to track these dangerous individuals, from busting their affiliates and seizing bank accounts to monitoring their social media accounts.
Key comments:
"This is a great victory for the Italian state, which shows we should never surrender to the mafia. My warmest thanks and those of the entire government go to the police forces … and the Palermo prosecutor's office, for the capture of the most significant figure in the mafia," said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after Matteo Messina Denaro was caught in January.
"It's typical. Look at El Chapo, who, when he was working wanted to meet Sean Penn who he wanted to make a movie about him. And Al Capone wanted to go on the movie set of 'Scarface,'" said journalist and author Roberto Saviano to CNN last week, referring to the tendency for Mafia bosses to seek public attention.
"They are in relationships that involve professionals, entrepreneurs, public administrators, politicians, individuals who flank their organization and form the so-called Mafia bourgeoisie, or gray zone," said Giancarlo Caselli, a former anti-Mafia prosecutor in Palermo on Radio Popolare, discussing the factors contributing to the prolonged process of apprehending Mafia bosses.
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