The Italian 64-year-old mob boss Domenico Rancadore was arrested in London BBC News reported. Rancadore, known for his links with Cosa Nostra, had been head of a crime family who was involved in racketeering, extortion and drug trafficking, Italian police said.
Rancadore was arrested by the Metropolitan Police at a residence under a European Arrest Warrant as he returned to his home in West London. The warrant was issued in January 2012, but the Westminster's Magistrates' Court found concerns with its validity. He shares the home with his wife Anna Maria and two children. He attempted to escape, but Scotland Yard officers soon overpowered him.
He has been on the run for 19 years, Sky News reported.
The judge involved in the Magistrate Court will decide if is able to be released on bail after a hearing on Friday. Until such time, he will remain in custody.
His Italian mafia ties seemed to be in the past, living a "blameless life" in Britain, according to Euan Macmillian, and neighbors described him as very friendly.
Regardless, Rancadore is wanted in Italy to serve a seven-year jail sentence for his part in a criminal organization between 1987 and 1995. He played the role of chief of the Cosa in Trabia Palermo. Cosa Nostra, translated in English as "our thing" is a moniker representing the association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct.
Palermo prosecutor Vittorio Teresi said that the Italian authorities would be seeking extradition charges against him.
"We asked several times for him to be arrested through the European Arrest Warrant but the procedure was never carried out because the British authorities wanted clarification of his committed crimes," Teresi said.
Rancadore, nicknamed "u profissuri" (the teacher) because he was a qualified PE teacher before turning to a life of crime. He had been running a travel agency, and has two children with his wife in London where he had been described "living a golden life" in Britain.
