Sicilian Mafia boss arrested in Czech Republic

The quiet suburb of Krasne Brezno in the town of Usti nad Labem witnessed something of a drama last week when police arrested one of Italy's most wanted Mafia bosses. Sicilian Luigi Putrone, sentenced in absentia for a string of brutal murders, had lived in the town for the last five years.

Luigi Putrone is one of Italy's most wanted men. He was considered to be head of a powerful Mafia clan based in Porto Empedocle, near the town of Agrigento, Sicily. The 44-year-old gangster had been convicted in absentia of a number of crimes committed in the 1980s and 1990s. They included the kidnapping and murder of Giuseppe Di Matteo, the 13-year-old son of a Mafia informer. The boy was tortured before being strangled and his body thrown into a vat of acid.

For at least the last five years Putrone had been living under an assumed name in Usti nad Labem, an industrial town near the German border. But Italian police notified their Czech counterparts in June that they believed he might be hiding out in this country. That information turned out to be true - he'd been using a stolen passport and had been moving freely around Usti nad Labem. Neighbours were shocked to discover the real identity of the man living in their midst - one man described him as a good friend, saying the two often worked out in a local gym.

On Thursday morning police from an elite anti-organised crime unit surrounded Putrone's car as he left a bakery. Police said he put up little resistance and went quietly. He was seized under an international arrest warrant, and is now being held in custody in Usti nad Labem. Justice Minister Pavel Nemec must now decide whether he should be extradited to Italy.

Meanwhile police are trying to track down those who might have helped Putrone evade detection for so long. The authorities in Italy will be keen to hear some answers. The head of the anti-Mafia committee of the Italian parliament believes Putrone's arrest is proof that the Italian mafia is extending its tentacles into new member countries of the European Union.