Italian mafia boss Sebastian Brunno has been remanded in custody after he pleaded not guilty to being in possession of a fake passport and using it to enter Malta illegally.
Mr Brunno, 56, was arrested in Bugibba yesterday afternoon (see video released by the Italian police below) after an investigation which had been going on for weeks and which was coordinated with the police in Catania and Syracuse. At the time of arrest, he was carrying a false Italian ID card.
According to cataniaoggi.com, Mr Brunno was posing as a 49-year-old man from Palermo.
Mr Brunno, who was represented by legal aid lawyer Anthony Cutajar, said he worked in the agricultural sector.
The police, through inspectors Mario Cuschieri and Pierre Grech, filed an extradition request.
Mr Brunno headed the Nardo clan of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra mafia and led a bloody mafia feud in the early 1990s.
He had been found guilty of murder, attempted murder and possession of weapons and is wanted in Italy to serve his term of life in prison.