Italian mafia boss Vito Palazzolo was arrested by South Africa's elite crime-fighting unit, the Scorpions, on Friday.
Scorpions spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said that Palazzolo was arrested in Cape Town and faces fraud charges relating to information he gave Home Affairs about his South African residency permit.
The information was allegedly given by the mafia boss on his arrival in the country from Italy in 1994.
Palazzolo is also being sought by the Italian government in connection with criminal activities of the Sicilian mafia, known as the Cosa Nostra. He was convicted in absentia in Italy of money laundering and drug trafficking.