Andrea Bonafede, a suspected member of the Sicilian Mafia, is arrested when big crime boss Matteo Messina Denaro, on the run since 1993, was captured using his name to undergo cancer treatment at a Palermo clinic.

Sicily has detained a man whose identity was used by Italy’s most sought mobster, Matteo Messina Denaro.

Andrea Bonafede was arrested by Carabinieri police on a warrant issued by Palermo, the capital of Sicily, court authorities.

Messina Denaro was detained last week while receiving chemotherapy in a Palermo clinic. And was found to be in possession of an official identification card bearing Bonafede’s name but not his picture.

Bonafede is accused of belonging to Cosa Nostra, also known as the Sicilian Mafia. And assisting Messina Denaro in carrying out his duties as a senior mob boss.

With Bonafede’s identification, the 60-year-old fugitive “was able to move about the territory [of Italy], evading law enforcement. And receive national healthcare without revealing his true name,” according to the warrant’s accusations.

Sicilian mafia boss’s identity user captured

Investigators believed Bonafede received €20,000 (£17,500) from Messina Denaro to buy a home in western Sicily used as a hideout.

The police have searched at least three residences in Campobello di Mazara, western Sicily, close to Trapani. Which they claim have been occupied over the last few months.

During the searches, officials discovered airline ticket receipts, receipts from upscale restaurants, jewelry, and movie posters, including those for The Godfather and The Joker.

Messina Denaro’s vehicle, a black Alfa Romeo Giulietta, was discovered with Bonafede’s identification documents, according to the arrest request.

Since 1993, Messina Denaro has been on the run and has been sentenced to life in prison for murders he committed in the early 1990s.

He was convicted of being one of the masterminds behind the 1992 bombs, one of which murdered Italy’s top anti-mafia judge, Giovanni Falcone, and the second two months later killed a fellow judge, Paolo Borsellino.

He was dubbed the “last godfather” and was the last fugitive member of a generation of Italian mobsters.