Wanted mafia boss Domenico Rancadore arrested in London
8 August 2013 Last updated at 13:26
Domenico Rancadore was said to have run a travel agency in London
A mafia boss has been arrested in London after nearly two decades years on the run, police have said.
Domenico Rancadore, 64, was wanted by Italian authorities over his links with Cosa Nostra.
He was the head of a crime family involved in extortion, racketeering and drug trafficking, according to Italian police.
He was sentenced in his absence to seven years in prison for crimes in Italy between 1987 and 1995.
'Nicest people'
The Met Police arrested him on Wednesday evening at at a residential address in Manor Waye, Uxbridge, under a European Arrest Warrant which was issued in January 2012.
He will appear before Westminster magistrates later.
The Italian Interior Ministry said he had run a travel agency in London and had led a comfortable life.
In a statement, it said: "Several co-operating witnesses have referred to him as a leading member of the Palermo Mafia 'family', with a senior managerial role in the Caccamo 'commandment'.
"In particular, in the 1990s, he played the role of chief of the Cosa Nostra in Trabia, Palermo.
"The operation is the result of the important relationship of international police co-operation ensured through Interpol."
A 76-year-old neighbour, who lives in Manor Waye, said she knew Rancadore as Marc Skinner and his family had lived in the road for several years.
"I know him very well and he's one of the best neighbours you could ever have," she said.
"They have been here for years. I've seen the children grow up with my children. I don't know the ins and outs of this, but they are the nicest people that you could wish to meet."
Revealed: Wanted Mafia boss has spent 19 years living as a house-husband in Uxbridge - but he's set to walk FREE tomorrow because of arrest warrant blunders
Domenico Rancadore, 64, went missing in 1994 and has an English family
Nicknamed 'The Professor', he was head of Mafia family in northern Sicily
Was convicted and jailed for seven years in Italy while he was on the run
Scotland Yard tracked him down to suburban street in Uxbridge, London
Neighbours to the fugitive's £300,000 home thought he was a chauffeur
By MARTIN ROBINSON and MARK DUELL PUBLISHED: 10:36 GMT, 8 August 2013 | UPDATED: 16:39 GMT, 8 August 2013
Caught: 'Mafia' boss Domenico Rancadore has been arrested in London after 19 years on the run, where he had lived a secret life as a travel agent
A fugitive Mafia boss discovered living in the UK as a suburban house husband could walk free tomorrow due to ‘significant deficiencies’ in the warrant for his arrest, it emerged today. Domenico Rancadore, 64, who is wanted by the Italian authorities, was arrested by British police at his home in Uxbridge, west London, last night under a European Arrest Warrant.The father of two had been living as a house husband under the alias Marc Skinner since 1993 while his wife, Anne, 60, ran a travel agency to support the family.Today, as he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court, District Judge Quentin Purdy said: ‘The warrant may be such it has to be discharged.
There are concerns about the validity of the warrant that has come before the court.’Euan Macmillan, defending, agreed that there were ‘significant deficiencies’ with the document.He added: 'His life is here, his family his here, his community ties are here. His wife is the principal bread winner in the family and he has to all intents and purposes been a house husband since he has been in this jurisdiction.'The judge remanded Rancadore in custody until a hearing tomorrow at 2pm, when he will decide whether the Italian can be released on bail.Wearing a pale blue shirt with dark trousers, Rancadore was helped by an Italian interpreter as he sat in the dock holding a copy of the arrest warrant.The former teacher is wanted in Italy to serve a seven-year jail term for being part of a criminal organisation between 1987 and 1995, having been convicted in his absence in 1999.
Family: His wife Anne, 60, and daughter Daniela Skinner, 33, leaving Westminster Magistrates' Court today
Home: This is the house in Uxbridge, London where fugitive Mafia boss Domenico Rancadore had been living with his wife and two children until he was arrested last night He was ‘a man of honour’ in Mafia group Cosa Nostra, controlling Trabia, near Palermo in Sicily, the court heard.
When police arrived at his home at around 7pm yesterday, he tried to flee through the back door of his home, but came face to face with a waiting detective constable.
COSA NOSTRA: SICILY'S MAFIA STILL STRONG WITH 4,000 FULL MEMBERS
The Sicilian Mafia, or Cosa Nostra, which translates into English as 'Our Thing', emerged in the mid-19th century and is still going strong. It is not one single organisation, instead it is made up of around 100 families who each run a territory on the island, either a district of a city, a town or a few villages. Its stronghold is Palermo, the capital of the Sicilian region, and the areas surrounding it, where at least half of all members are based. Their power grew from protection, racketeering and extortion, because of the number of traders and landowners there to exploit. In more recent times, much of their money has come from the smuggling of cigarettes and drugs like heroin to Europe and America.
In the post-war era the Italian authorities fought against the Mafia, but even after a series of huge court cases the families couldn't be broken.
According to Francesco Messineo, the Chief Prosecutor of Palermo, there are still 94 Mafia families on Sicily, with between 3,500 to 4,000 mobsters.
Italian Police say he was involved in extortion, racketeering and drug trafficking. The wanted mobster, who has an English wife and two children, had the nickname 'The Professor' among Cosa Nostra members, because he was once a PE teacher in Italy.Rancadore was a member of a powerful Mafia family running organised crime in the north of Sicily. He was convicted of extortion and other serious crimes and was head of the family in Trabia, around 30km from the Sicilian capital Palermo. Sources in Italy said today that Scotland Yard detectives were waiting for him when he came back from work last night.The fugitive then saw the officers and tried to flee but was unable to get away.Neighbour Joan Hills, 76, said Rancadore and his family had lived in the road for several years.
'I know him very well and he's one of the best neighbours you could ever have,' she said. 'They have been here for years. I've seen the children grow up with my children. I don't know the ins and outs of this, but they are the nicest people that you could wish to meet.' A statement from the Italian Interior Ministry said: 'Accused of crimes of mafia-style association, extortion and other serious offences and sought since 1994, multiple previous offender Rancadore Domenico, 64, from Parlermo, was arrested yesterday in London by British police.
Held: 19 years after he disappeared, the Mafia boss was arrested in this street in Uxbridge outside his family home
'The operation was made possible thanks to the investigative data provided by the Central Operations Service and the Mobile Squad, allowing British investigators, with the help of the service for International Police Cooperation, to locate where the fugitive was hiding. 'Rancadore ran a travel agency in the British capital and led a comfortable life. Several cooperating witnesses have referred to him as a leading member of the Palermo Mafia "family", with a senior managerial role in the Caccamo "commandment".
'His life is here, his family his here, his community ties are here. His wife is the principal bread winner in the family'
Euan Macmillan, defending
'In particular, in the 1990s, he played the role of chief of the Cosa Nostra in Trabia, Palermo.
'The operation is the result of the important relationship of international police cooperation ensured through Interpol.' Neighbours to his £300,000 home, which has no mortgage and is registered in the name of his wife, thought he was a chauffeur because he was a sharp dresser who drove a Jaguar and a Mercedes. Tennis coach Terry Stidder, 53, lives two houses away from the suspected crime boss's home and said the family, who then had two teenage girls, moved there in the late 1990s. He said: ‘As much as I can tell he seemed a nice guy quiet, reserved and polite. He would always say hello or wave. In all that time I don't think I have spoken more than one or two words with him. ‘I always thought he might be Spanish or Italian because he's got a little courtyard you tend to get in Spain. He's got a Mercedes and Jaguar. I thought he was a chauffeur.
Convicted: The boss was jailed for seven years in his absence for crimes carried out around the cathedral city of Palermo in Sicily
‘He would always go out dressed nicely, he was either in a very sharp suit or smart casual. Again if you think about it, it was your typical Mafiosi type look.’He added that after the family moved in, Rancadore put up a high hedge around his front garden, put up a big gate and installed a CCTV camera that recorded who entered through the gate.
'He had a row with a neighbour over the bushes. Thinking on it now, you would think you wouldn't mess with these kind of people' Terry Stidder, neighbour
Mr Stidder said: ‘He had a row with a neighbour over the bushes. Thinking on it now, you would think you wouldn't mess with these kind of people. But it was certainly not violent.’Scotland Yard confirmed that Rancadore, 64, was arrested at 7pm yesterday by the force's extradition unit. A spokesman said: 'Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service extradition unit arrested Domenico Rancadore on a European arrest warrant alleging that he has an outstanding sentence of seven years imprisonment to serve for participation in Mafia association between December 17 1987 and April 13 1995 in Palermo, Italy.
'He was taken into police custody and is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court today.'
