Michele Zagaria, one of the most senior bosses of Italy’s Camorra mafia has been caught after more than 16 years on the run when Italian police broke into a concrete-reinforced bunker under a home near Naples and arrested the mafia leader.
Naples / NationalTurk – Michele Zagaria, a top boss in the Caselesi chain, one of the Camorra’s most feared and vicious families, was found in the Italian town of Casapesenna, 12 miles north of Naples, a Mafia heartland.
A bulldozer and crane were brought in by armed Italian officers as they launched the raid on the hiding spot of the 53-year-old godfather, nicknamed ‘Capastorta’ or ‘Crooked head’.
Officers spent four hours using drills to break through walls and track Michele Zagaria down in the bunker complex, which was accessed by a movable floor in a room of the complex.
Michele Zagaria, the last of the Italian Mafia under arrest in Naples, Italy
Michele Zagaria, who is thought to have lived in the complex for “numerous years”, had allegedly tried to escape through one of the numerous hatches in the bunker but he was cornered after a lift mechanism designed to take him to the surface malfunctioned.
Upon emerging to a cheering crowd, he proclaimed: “You have won. That State has won”.
Michele Zagaria, who was on Italy’s 20 Most Wanted List and the subject of an international arrest warrant since 2000, was sentenced to multiple life sentences in absentia for murder, extortion, robbery and association with the Mafia. He is rumoured to have carried out his most secret and dangerous meetings in local churches.
Zagaria would also conduct business meeting from a chaise longue at his majestic villa, while caressing a beloved pet tiger, according to press reports. Detectives said that he had aged considerably more than his most recent artist’s impression. On Wednesday night he was being held under tight security at the main police HQ in Naples.
The casalesi clan led by Zagaria is crime syndicate no. 1 in Italy
The Casalesi clan are one of the most feared mafia organisations in the Camorra. They inspired the book and subsequent film Gomorrah which exposed how they made money from the illegal dumping of toxic waster, drugs, extortion, people and arms smuggling, prostitution and loan sharking. The Casalesi are understood to be responsible for the gunning down of six Africans in a hairdressers in a bitter feud over the control of the lucrative drugs market.
Mario Monti, the new Italian prime minister, stated: “Today is a beautiful day for all honest Italian people. This arrest of the Mafia boss a stimulus of courage for all those that are ready to stand up and fight against organised crime.”
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