This is the Guardian.

Today, the arrest of the Sicilian Mafia's last godfather,

and where it leaves the cosonostra now.

Before we start, quick heads up.

This episode contains a couple of descriptions of violence

that some people might find distressing.

This grainy clip, broadcast on Italian TV last year,

was the first time the public had ever heard his voice.

Mateo Messina Denaro, the last godfather of the Sicilian Mafia.

A man who'd boasted he'd killed so many people he could fill a cemetery,

who'd been part of a campaign against the government

that turned parts of Italy into a war zone,

and who had been on the run for 30 years.

You see, over the past 30 years, there had been several police inquiries

into the boss's business, and the people who were protecting him.

But these were the first news about his identity,

and at the moment, that moment, I thought, is a rastid near.

Lorenzo Tondo covers southern Italy for the Guardian.

He grew up in Sicily.

He's followed Denaro's story his entire life.

And last year, when the tape of his voice was released,

something told him the net was closing.

...