Fugitive captured at Mafia summit

Police raided a summit of Mafia dons in Sicily on Monday, arresting a longtime fugitive who authorities say was revitalizing ties with U.S. mobsters and vying to become the crime syndicate’s next “boss of bosses.”

Salvatore Lo Piccolo’s capture after more than a decade on the run dealt another blow to the Sicilian Mafia, already weakened by several recent arrests.

Lo Piccolo, sentenced to life in prison for murder and on the run since 1993, was captured in a morning raid on a house in the countryside outside Sicily’s capital, Palermo, police said.

Also arrested were Lo Piccolo’s 32-year-old son, Sandro -- another top Mafia figure sentenced to life in prison and wanted since 1998 -- as well as two men accused of being local bosses, officials in Palermo said.

Investigators believe Lo Piccolo, 65, could have eventually emerged as the Mafia’s new “capo di tutti i capi” after the April 2006 capture of Bernardo Provenzano, the reputed No. 1 of the Cosa Nostra crime syndicate. Provenzano, who was on the run for more than 40 years, was arrested near Corleone, Sicily.