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Italian police arrest top mafia boss
ROME | Sat Oct 23, 2010 4:37pm EDT
ROME (Reuters) - Italian police said Saturday they had arrested a top mafia boss who had been on the run since 1999 and was on the list of Italy's 30 most wanted fugitives. Gerlandino Messina, 38, was arrested in the Sicilian town of Favara, near Agrigento. He was wanted for several murders and criminal association with the mafia. Some Italian media said he was considered the Sicilian Mafia's number 2, behind the top boss Matteo Messina Denaro, who is still on the run.
The arrest is the latest in a string of high profile arrests of top mobsters by Italian police. An Italian Interior Ministry statement said 28 of the 30 most dangerous mobsters were now in jail, but Italian media said more names had been added to the list, which is regularly updated by authorities, and 16 top mafia bosses were still wanted.
(reporting by Silvia Aloisi, Rome newsroom)
