New Info Released on "Diabolik," Sicilian Boss of Bosses

Sicilian Cosa Nostra boss Matteo Messina Denaro (born 26 April 1962) is probably one of the only mobsters whose nickname was derived from an Italian comic book series, called Diabolik.

In news touted around the world recently, Italian police said they have received new information from a reliable informant, which apparently marks the first time in nearly four years that investigators were able to update the mobster's computer simulated portrait (known as an "identikit").

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He is considered to be one of the new leaders of Cosa Nostra since the arrest of Bernardo Provenzano in April 2006. He didn't rise to prominence until April 2001, when the magazine L'Espresso put him on the cover with the headline: Ecco il nuovo capo della mafia ("Here is the new boss of the Mafia").

He has been a fugitive since 1993.

According to Forbes magazine he is among the 10 most wanted criminals in the world

The 52-year-old is said to have a receding hairline and also is blind in one eye, according to the informant.



Matteo Messina Denaro - The Boss of All Bosses - TIME:

FOLKLORE: This boss from the western city of Trapani, who may take over the mantle from the just captured Lo Piccolo, is considered something of a "playboy don," with a weakness for sports cars and designer watches and sunglasses.

UGLY TRUTH: Despite his fancy tastes, the 45-year-old boss understands the old rules of the mob. He allegedly took part in the Falcone killings in 1992, and Italian police believe that he will do whatever he feels is necessary in the future to increase his own power — and the very real power of the Mafia.

Bernardo Provenzano

FOLKLORE: His record 43 years as a fugitive turned this reticent boss into a kind of wiseman of the wise guys. His ability to evade authorities, who'd organized the greatest manhunt in Cosa Nostra history, was legendary as he cut off contact with his family and moved constantly from one safe house to the next in the Sicilian countryside. He was able to run the Mafia empire with the use of pizzini, tiny typed notes that were delivered by hand by his trusted lieutenants. The deeply Catholic Provenzano possessed five bibles found when he was nabbed; one copy was filled with cryptic notes and underlining that some believe are a code to many of the Mafia's oldest, darkest secrets.

UGLY TRUTH: Though known as the man who brought a "pax Mafiosa" to the organization after a particularly bloody period, Provenzano rose through the ranks with a reputation as cold-blooded killer. Ultimately, though, the most chilling part of his legacy was an ability to impose a peace on his Mafia underlings. For Cosa Nostra is at its most potent when it is quietly going about its work in the rackets while infiltrating the above-board economy.





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