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A martial arts enthusiast pulls a vehicle with a rope connected to his eye sockets during a performance in Hefei, Anhui province November 30, 2009. Picture taken November 30, 2009. REUTERS/China Daily

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    Mafia boss arrested while watching Mafia TV show

    PALERMO, Italy
    Fri Nov 30, 2007 12:09pm EST
    Italian Carabinieri police accompany Michele Catalano (C) after his arrest in Palermo November 29, 2007. Italian police burst into the room of the suspected Mafia mobster in Sicily and arrested him as he watched a television show about the arrest of a Mafia boss, investigators said on Friday. Police said Catalano was watching the concluding chapter late on Thursday of the TV mini-series ''The Boss of Bosses'', recounting the arrest in 1993 of the real-life Cosa Nostra leader Salvatore ''Toto'' Riina, when he was detained. Picture taken November 29, 2007. REUTERS/Carabiniere/Handout EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.

    PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) - Italian police burst into the room of a suspected Mafia mobster in Sicily and arrested him as he watched a television show about the arrest of a Mafia boss, investigators said Friday.

    Oddly Enough

    Police said Michele Catalano was watching the concluding chapter late Thursday of the TV mini-series "The Boss of Bosses," recounting the arrest in 1993 of real-life Cosa Nostra leader Salvatore "Toto" Riina, when he was detained.

    They Catalano, 48, was suspected of being a senior commander serving under the latest "boss of bosses" Salvatore Lo Piccolo, who was arrested this month after nearly 25 years on the run.

    Catalano faces charges of drug trafficking and extortion.

    Lo Piccolo had taken over the reins of the Sicilian crime syndicate from Riina's successor Bernardo Provenzano, who was arrested last year after 40 years on the run. The arrests have seriously weakened the Mafia, police say.

    Politicians and cultural figures criticized Channel 5's mini-series for portraying Riina as a hero and lobbied its owner Mediaset, belonging to former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, to take the final episode off the air. Mediaset declined.

    Nicknamed "the Beast" for his brutality, Riina has been convicted on more than 100 counts of murder.
    Oddly Enough


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