For years, investigators searching for Messina Denaro had been looking for possible hiding places in the Sicilian countryside. When he arrived in Palermo, the largest city in the region, for a chemo session, they finally gave him a hug.
After 30 years on the run, Sicilian mobster Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy’s most wanted fugitive, has been captured, betrayed by his cancer.

The mafia hunters tightened the net in this manner.
For years, investigators searching for Messina Denaro, a mass murderer, had been searching the Sicilian countryside for potential hiding places. They had arrested those who were believed to be protecting him, which had gradually reduced the group of people he could trust.

The unidentified person’s cancer-related medical issues and eye issues were then discussed by members of his family and friends in wiretapped conversations.

The 60-year-old Messina Denaro, who was believed to have had an eye operation in the 1990s, was the one the detectives were certain of.

During a press conference on Monday, special operations commander Pasquale Angelosanto stated, “We had unequivocal information that the fugitive had health problems… that he was attending a health facility in order to treat his illness.” He made these remarks.

He stated, “As a result, we worked to identify… those who had access to treatment for the suspected pathologies.”

National database The investigators used a national health system database to look for male patients with the appropriate age and medical history because they were aware that Messina Denaro would be operating under a false identity.

Angelosanto stated, “We were reducing the list, ticking people off, until we had only a few individuals left.”

According to reports from Italian media, “a few days ago we identified someone who had booked a specialist visit” for Monday” at the Maddalena health facility in Palermo. The man was identified as Andrea Bonafede, the nephew of a close friend of Messina Denaro’s father.

According to the Open online newspaper, Bonafede had visited an ophthalmologist for issues with his left eye, as evidenced by his medical record.

It also stated that he had had two operations for colon cancer, one in 2020 and the other in 2022.

However, when investigators dug deeper, they discovered that Bonafede appeared to have been in two places at once.

On the date in question, 2022, council surveillance footage from his hometown of Campobello di Mazara showed the real Bonafede walking the dog at the time he was allegedly under the knife.

Police prepared a task force of 150 special ops to capture the man who went by the name Bonafede when he made an appointment for Monday at the posh Palermo clinic.

Later, footage of him arriving showed him wearing a COVID-19 mask, tinted glasses, and a hat that barely showed his face.

After he checked in at the clinic, they secured the surrounding area and began verifying his identity.

According to the Corriere della Sera, the so-called Bonafede, dressed in his brown leather jacket with a fleece lining and unaware of the closing net, waited in line for the center’s mandatory COVID-19 nose swab before returning outside, perhaps for a cup of coffee.

He probably realized what was going on then.

when asked, “Who are you?” by a police officer, the boss of Cosa Nostra replied, I’m known to you. Denaro, Matteo Messina

Doctor Paolo Guido, Palermo’s chief prosecutor, stated that Messina Denaro “appeared to be in good health” despite receiving treatment for serious illnesses. We didn’t see any signs of fragility or difficulty in him.

He could express his gratitude to his physician, Alfonso Tumbarello, who is the subject of an ongoing police investigation.

According to the Messaggero daily, he had been Bonafede’s doctor for years but had been treating Messina Denaro like Bonafede.

According to media reports, police are also questioning others at the clinic, including a nurse who took a selfie with Messina Denaro and others who attended chemotherapy sessions with him.

Guido stated that the clinic was not itself suspect and that the mobster’s health was his downfall.

The prosecutor stated, “It was what forced him to come out into the open.”