Italian authorities learned of a plot by the reputed head of the Cosa Nostra to kill Nino Di Matteo an Italian prosecutor.
Matteo Messina Denaro one of the top ten most wanted men in the world ordered the hit on Matteo according to letters revealed this week. Denaro has been a fugitive since 1993 and became the head of the Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra in 2006 after then boss Bernando Provenzano was arrested according to authorities. The hit on Matteo was ordered as he leads an investigation into the 1992 mafia murders of two Italian magistrates Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone. Both magistrates were killed in separate bomb attacks ordered by the Sicilian Mafia during their strategy of terror or “stragismo” against the state in the 1990’s.
“Matteo Messina Denaro”
Denaro is wanted on multiple mafia related charges including his role in the murder of Giuseppe Di Matteo the 13 year old son of mobster turned informant Santino Di Matteo. Italian authorities say that have severely damaged the power of Denaro and the Sicilian mafia of late with seizures of millions of euros in assests and arrest of many alleged mobsters and associates. The top prosecutor in Italy Pietro Grasso says efforts by Italian authorities against the Sicilian mafia have been so successful that the mafia effectively no longer has a No. 1. Security for Matteo has been beefed up after the plot was revealed and the search for Denaro continues.
