His name is Bernardo Provenzano, and he’s said to be the number one Mafia man in the world, the man who took over La Cosa Nostra in 1993.
He’s been the most wanted man in Italy for at least four decades. And now, after a 40-year chase, he’s finally been captured.
Provenzano was found in a Sicilian farmhouse Tuesday and was taken into custody to the relief of agents who have been trying to track him down all these years.
Ironically the arrest took place near the town made famous in the “Godfather” movies – Corleone. He was then driven to Palermo and a waiting jail cell.
Investigators were desperate to catch the crime boss, who was known by the nickname “The Tractor”, because he had re****tion for mowing down anyone who got in his way.
They call the capture one of the most significant in recent crime history.
Provenzano’s long run had him living an existence most of can barely conceive of. Since 1963, he's been sleeping in different residences every few nights and issuing orders only through handwritten notes for fear his calls could be traced.
His own lawyer told authorities he was dead.
Cops only had a 50-year-old picture of him until prostate problems brought him to a private clinic in France under an assumed name several years ago.
Workers there helped authorities fashion a new composite sketch and they used it to track him down.
“Bastard! Murderer!" an inflamed crowd shouted at the Don as he was brought in to headquarters. He was questioned by Mafia experts, but sources indicate he isn’t saying very much.
Italian officials claim it was Provenzano who helped the Mafia establish its tentacles in more ‘honest’-tinted white-collar industries, instead of its traditional booze and drug trafficking.
It’s a morass they’ve been trying to clear up ever since with only limited success.
