Rome - Italian police said Monday they had seized more than 20 million euros (25 million dollars) worth of assets controlled by the Mafia family of Matteo Messina Denaro, the country's number one fugitive.
Messina Denaro, 52, is the presumed head of Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian branch of the Mafia. Known for his love of fast cars and womanizing, the mobster has been on the run since 1993, and has been convicted in absentia of several murders.
Italy's tax police, the Guardia di Finanza, said they inflicted “a further and harsh blow” to his family's economic fortune with their latest operation.
The confiscated assets - including several construction firms, cars, trucks, warehouses, flats, farm land, stock market shares and bank accounts - were controlled by Messina Denaro associates who were arrested in December 2013.
Road building, agriculture and wind farm projects in Messina
Denaro's home province of Trapani, Sicily, have long been suspected of having been infiltrated by the mobster's associates, who allegedly use the proceeds to pay for his fugitive lifestyle.
Sapa