ROME -- The owner of a garage in Mazara del Vallo in Trapani has been arrested for creating a cosy love nest for Sicilian mafia boss, Matteo Messina Denaro, to meet his mistress while on the run, according to the Carabinieri. 

  Palermo Public Prosecutors office, coordinated by Maurizio de Lucia, ordered the arrest for Giuseppe di Giorgi, 49, for aiding and abetting, as well as procured inobservance of a sentence. In addition to these charges, Di Giorgi was charged with the possession of an illegal weapon after investigators found a Walther pistol and 50 unused bullets in the man’s home. The man claimed that the gun, which was being stored in a wardrobe, had been found on the street. 

  Two garages owned by Di Giorgi in an apartment complex had been converted into a living space, equipped with a bedroom and kitchenette. According to investigators, Messina Denaro would meet his mistress Lorena Lanceri in the converted garages. Lanceri was also sentenced to 13 years for external complicity in aiding the mafia boss.

  Keys found on Messina Denaro’s possession during his arrest, and on his mistress, opened the gate to a condominium. Using keys seized from Messina Denaro’s sister, Rosalia Messina Denaro, and Andrea Bonafede, who lent his identity to the mafia boss, Carabinieri were then able to open the locks of the two connecting garages. 

  According to the Carabinieri, Messino Denaro had also used the hideout to store documents and correspondences, which could be used in further investigations into the network of the last of the Corleonesi Mafia clan. 

  The Sicilian mafia boss, Messina Denaro, had been in hiding for 30 years from 1993 to 2023. He was eventually apprehended in a private clinic in Palermo in January 2023 where he was undergoing treatment for a tumour, using Andrea Bonafede’s identity. Messina Denaro died in September 2023, several months after being arrested. 

lw