Police arrest 2 Mafia bosses in underground bunker

Ferraro was convicted of murder and mafia association in the 1980s, when a bloody clan feud left more than 20 people dead.

Police found an arsenal of guns, including automatic weapons, in the semi-underground hole in the wooded area near Agro di Maropati, in Reggio Calabria, the “toe” of Italy.

The bunker, hidden in the countryside, was equipped with a kitchen and bathroom, enabling the men to live in relative comfort.

Bonarrigo’s allies retaliated by beating the suspected gunman, Francesco Raccosta, with metal poles and then feeding him alive to pigs. The other mobster – Guiseppe Crea, 37 – had been on the run since 2006, sought extortoin and other mafia crimes, AFP reported.

Despite it being dug deep into the ground the hideout was furnished with electricity, and the mobsters had a satellite TV and a computer, police said.

“They were living like animals, a cold life cut off from society” but with enough contact with the underworld to rule on gang matters when necessary, Cafiero De Raho told a press conference.

The cocaine-trafficking ‘Ndrangheta is one of the world’s most powerful criminal organisations.

Rosy Bindi, an MP and the head of the national Anti-Mafia Commission, hailed the arrests as “an extraordinary result” for the police.

Life had become increasingly hard for the pair since June past year, when a police crackdown severely weakened the network of clan members helping them survive in the woods, investigators said.

“Today is another great day for everyone and for the country because justice has won”, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said after their arrest.

Both were involved with ‘Ndrangheta, a mafia organization centered in Calabria.

The mafia family managed to become the most powerful crime syndicate in Italy in the late 1990s and early 2000s.