Reputed Mafia Boss Arrested in Sicily
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PALERMO, Sicily — A reputed top Mafia boss accused in the murder of a Communist Party official was arrested Sunday after four years in hiding.
Police seized Salvatore Cucuzza, 49, in a Palermo apartment.
Mob informers have identified Cucuzza as the boss of downtown Palermo, the capital of the Italian island of Sicily, the ANSA news service said.
He allegedly was a member of a hit squad during the 1980s and was close to Salvatore “Toto” Riina, the now-imprisoned “boss of bosses.” Riina was convicted last year in the 1982 slaying of Pio La Torre, head of the Communist Party in Sicily.
Palermo prosecutor Guido Lo Forte said Cucuzza is a suspect in the La Torre murder as well as in numerous other homicides.
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