Italian police have arrested Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro following a decades-long hunt, a year-and-a-half after a Formula 1 fan who bore a resemblance to the criminal was arrested in a case of mistaken identity.
Denaro had been on the run since 1993, when he became one of Italy’s most-wanted men following a spree of bombings which killed 10 people and injured close to 100 more, which his Cosa Nostra mafia group was said to be responsible for.Reports state Denaro committed other serious crimes personally and, in his position as a mafia ‘godfather’, was involved in the Cosa Nostra’s money and power-motivated organised crime activities over the years such as drug dealing.
Ahead of the 2021 Dutch Grand Prix, an F1 fan from Liverpool who was travelling to Zandvoort to watch the race was arrested in The Hague while dining in a restaurant. The innocent fan was blindfolded and taken away to a high-security Dutch prison by police who had mistaken him for the internationally-wanted crime lord Denaro. Europol, a Europe-wide law enforcement agency known for tracking down international criminals, is based in The Hague.
An accelerated investigation of the fan’s alibi and his identity concluded he was in fact an F1 enthusiast from Liverpool and not part of an organised crime network, and he was released by the Dutch police. The real Denaro was finally arrested yesterday.
Image: Police handout
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 F1 season
- FIA president cleared of alleged interference in two 2023 races
- First week viewing figures for new Drive to Survive season fall again
- Max who? Drive to Survive season six prefers its favourite faces
- RaceFans’ complete 2023 season review
- The F1 drivers who pulled off the 10 biggest charges through the field in 2023
Gilles Amon (@gillesamon)
17th January 2023, 13:04
Headline of the century.
Dan Rooke (@geekzilla9000)
17th January 2023, 13:19
It’s certainly going to be tricky to beat this headline. This is a tenuous F1 story, but it’s also absolutely amazing! One of my favourite reads of the day!
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
17th January 2023, 15:02
It’s not only the bombings. It’s about one of the most violent terrorists on earth. No wonder he was Toto Rina’s favourite. He killed lots of people, judges, witnesses, mobsters, politicians… He said in a taped conversation that he personally killed more than 50 people and with the number of people he has killed he can fill an entire cemetry.
Once after he finished killing another mobster, he strangled his pregnant wife because according to him if the baby is a boy then he will vindicate his father’s death. He also kidnapped and tortured a 12 year old boy for 2 years just because his father has witnessed against him and then dissolved him in acid.
Nick T.
18th January 2023, 8:54
This was part of the Maxxi trials, correct? Long ago I read about this and couldn’t believe it hadn’t been made into a best selling book or movie. The organization bombed a train over Christmas in hopes Italian authorities would think it was an Arab terrorist attack and deflect the nation’s focus off the mafia.
Alex Lima
17th January 2023, 15:59
If a movie is quoted in the future, no one better than DeNiro to play Denaro in the big screen.
stefano (@alfa145)
17th January 2023, 20:23
that title, though
N
18th January 2023, 10:48
lmao
Mahla ("May") Shaebanyan-Bady
18th January 2023, 17:53
I want to see a full-facial picture of both the real criminal and the fan, so I can see exactly how much they really look alike.