Italy:The Italian state's never-ending battle with organised crime registered an important success yesterday with the arrest in Palermo, Sicily, of Mafia godfather Salvatore Lo Piccolo.
One of Italy's most wanted Mafiosi, Lo Piccolo is believed to have occupied the number one role in Cosa Nostra following the arrest in April 2006 of then "boss of bosses" Bernardo Provenzano.
Lo Piccolo (65) was arrested with his son Sandro (32) and two other local godfathers, Gaspare Pulizzi and Andrea Adamo. The four had convened for a "business" meeting in an apartment in Giardinello, near Palermo, which had been under police surveillance for the last two weeks.
Movement around the apartment block and the arrival of a car containing Pulizzi and Adamo prompted the 40-strong police force to surround the house and move in.
At first, the four men attempted to barricade themselves into the basement garage but after the police had fired shots in the air, they gave themselves up without any further resistance.
It was reported that as he was led away after being arrested, Sandro Lo Piccolo shouted out, "I love you, Papa". Lo Piccolo jnr had been on the run since 1998, wanted for a variety of Mafia-related crimes.
Lo Piccolo snr, known as "Il Barone", had been on the run since 1983, wanted in connection with eight different Mafia investigations for crimes ranging from murder to drug trafficking.
He is believed to have revived lucrative business partnerships with New York-based Mafia families towards the end of the 1990s, primarily trafficking cocaine and heroin.
"Business" was booming, if one is to believe the account books of Lo Piccolo's right-hand man, Francesco Franzese, arrested three months ago. Lo Piccolo allegedly awarded himself a monthly salary of €40,000, of which he paid €25,000 to his son and another €11,000 to his wife.
Yesterday's arrests, too, are likely to throw up further useful information on Lo Piccolo and Cosa Nostra since police found not only guns and money but also notebooks hidden in the apartment bathroom.
Partly for this reason, investigators believe that these arrests could represent a heavy blow for Cosa Nostra.
Palermo state attorney Francesco Messineo said: "With the arrest of these two [ Lo Piccolo father and son], we expect the whole criminal organisation in this area to fall apart. Both men were reference points for other godfathers who run the whole business. Now we hope that this will have a positive impact on the possibility of ordinary citizens collaborating with us."
The arrests come two weeks after Italy's association of small businesses, Confesercenti, issued a report in which it claimed that, with an estimated annual turnover of €90 billion or 7 per cent of Italian GDP, organised crime has become Italy's biggest business.
Drugs trafficking, extortion, loan sharking, burglary, theft, contraband, kickbacks and public contract control all help to guarantee a huge Mafia turnover.