The Mafia boss of bosses Messina Denaro has finally been arrested after a more than three decade battle to bring him to justice.

Denaro was the head of the infamous Cosa Nostra gang, where he had the nickname ‘The Devil’ because of a series of violent murders.

The Cosa Nostra is the name of the Sicilian crime syndicate depicted in ‘The Godfather’ movies.

His victims included a 12-year-old boy who was strangled and whose body was dissolved in acid to persuade the boy’s father not to give evidence against them, as he once boasted that he could “feel asymmetry” with the bodies of his victims.

This footage shows a police operation to seize him with armed officers raiding a private medical facility in Palermo, Sicily, where he was reportedly undergoing treatment for colon cancer.

He had apparently already had several visits to the hospital as well as an operation and had returned for more tests and chemotherapy.

The 60-year-old even made one last attempt to get away on foot by running through several hospital doors but was caught in a hospital bar.

He was then taken away in a black minivan.

Denaro had managed to stay out of the limelight for three decades but is now firmly back in the spotlight after he was photographed being led to the police van in a brown leather jacket and still wearing his trademark tinted glasses.

He became the leader of the plan after the death of Salvatore ‘The Beast’ Riina in November 2022.