Matteo Messina Denaro

Matteo Messina Denaro (born April 26, 1962 in Castelvetrano , Sicily ) is a leader of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra . His nickname is U siccu (Sicilian: "the drought"); but it is also called Diabolik or Rolex . In Sicily his father Francesco Messina Denaro is known under the name Don Ciccio . After the arrest of Salvatore Lo Piccolo in 2007, he is considered the possible sole successor to Bernardo Provenzano and thus number 1 in the Sicilian Mafia.

biography

Matteo Messina Denaro was born into a powerful mafia family. Francesco Messina Denaro was running the Castelvetrano family back in the 1970s. The province of Trapani is considered to be the strongest base of the Cosa Nostra alongside Palermo . Matteo Messina learned to shoot Denaro at the age of 14, committed his first murder at 18 and quickly rose to the top of the Sicilian mafia. Since 1992 he has been a member of the management team of Cosa Nostra. He worked with other management members such as Bernardo Provenzano and Totò Riina and was a representative of both the committee that decided the assassinations of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino , as well as later to the subsequent "directorate" Provenzano. In May 2002 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for his complicity in these attacks in absentia. He was also actively involved in a wave of attacks on the Italian mainland in 1993–1995. Matteo Messina Denaro has been on the run since 1993. When a house in Mazara del Vallo was searched that same year , a letter was found from Denaro which said:

“ I have to go, but I can't explain why. A lot speaks against me at the moment. I am fighting for a cause that cannot be understood at this time. But one day people will see that I was on the right side. "

In the meantime, the contents of other letters from 2005 and 2006 have been published. In it he blasphemed the “ old Provenzano ”, complained that the judiciary was “ rotten ”, that there were no more “ racial politicians ” and that the Cosa Nostra had lost its importance. At the same time, however, he also announced: “ There will be a lot of talk about me. "

In addition to the Italian police, he is also wanted by the American FBI . The FBI sees him as one of the most dangerous drug dealers in the world and is looking for him. He is said to have close contacts with large drug dealers in Colombia and with the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta . Since the arrest of Bernardo Provenzano in 2006, he has been considered a possible new head of the Cosa Nostra. Messina Denaro has been the Capomafia of Trapani Province since Vincenzo Virga was arrested in 2001. Until then, only capo-mandamento of Castelvetrano and the surrounding territory, Messina Denaro welded the entire province into a single mandamento under his command. In particular, after Salvatore Lo Piccolo's arrest in 2007, he is also said to have gained influence in the province of Palermo . He maintains close ties with the family of Brancaccio (a district of Palermo); he is related by marriage to Giuseppe and Fillippo Guttadauro, the regents of the family. In 2000, he narrowly escaped arrest in Brancaccio's territory; It was also found out that he had been hiding in the traditional mafia stronghold of Bagheria for a while . In mid-2010, Salvatore Messina Denaro, who acted as an intermediary and close confidante for his brother Matteo, was arrested.

According to Italian investigators, Denaro has personally killed or had at least 50 people killed in the course of his criminal career. This is the murder of Vincenzo Milazzo and Antonella Bonomo. Milazzo was a mafia colleague on the same side as Messina Denaro, although he had lost the trust of his own people. In fact, however, a number of Mafia members, including Leoluca Bagarella, Salvatore Riina's brother-in-law, were involved in the double murder; they used a rope to strangle the woman. Whether Bonomo was pregnant or hoped that begging for the life of her unborn child could save her own life can no longer be said these days.

character

Denaro is considered to be the representative of the "new generation" of Cosa Nostra. He boasts of being able to fill an entire cemetery with his victims . Acquaintances from the past report that the young Matteo Messina Denaro liked to drive a Porsche full of champagne bottles from his hometown Castelvetrano down to the beaches of Selinunte to celebrate lavish parties.

Mystification

In 2008, murals, called murales , showing Denaro appeared in several places in Sicily . The first picture was on a wall at the back of the Norman Cathedral in Palermo . A similar picture was soon found at the entrance to the law school in Palermo, then in Messina Denaros' hometown, in Castelvetrano, and in the nearby town of Sciacca . The pictures show Denaro's face four times in color, as can be seen from the mug shots. Below that is a row of dollar signs.

Investigators are puzzling over whether these images are meant to be an artistic provocation, an encouragement for the police, a warning that the Mafia is gaining strength or a mystification of Denaro. He has also appeared in a rap song and experts also confirm that he has become an idol among young people in Sicily.

swell

1. ^ Profiteer of the Crisis: The New Mafia. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . July 21, 2011, accessed July 21, 2011 . 
2. ↑ Rai - Chi l'ha visto: Search for Matteo Messina Denaro ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Mugno, Salvatore: Matteo Messina Denaro. Un padrino del nostro tempo. Bolsena: Massari Editore 2011. pp. 92-95.

Web links

• They call him Diabolik , Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 28, 2006
• Further information (German)
• More information (Italian)