An Italian Mafia boss was arrested in broad daylight on the streets of Buġibba yesterday, five years after the Sicilian police mounted an extensive manhunt for him.

Sebastiano Brunno, 56, known as the head of the Nardo cosca, a branch of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, was arrested in a “public space” at around noon, Acting Police Commissioner Ray Zammit said.

The arrest followed an international investigation coordinated by the Catania anti-Mafia unit with the Maltese CID and Drug Squad. A European arrest warrant had been issued for him along with a provisional one by the local courts.

Authorities swooped after three months of intense monitoring

Mr Brunno is wanted in connection with several brutal murders and was one of the Mafia leaders involved a bloody feud in the 1990s. He has been a fugitive since 2009 and an Italian court has already condemned him to life imprisonment.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Zammit yesterday said local authorities had swooped on Mr Brunno after some three months of intense monitoring. He had been living in an apartment in Buġibba and was found unarmed with a forged Italian ID card.

Mr Zammit said it did not appear Mr Brunno had committed any crimes in Malta and will likely be tried on his home soil.

Italian authorities have already requested his extradition.

Asked whether investigations had yielded any further information on the mobster’s alleged crimes, Mr Zammit said such information was delicate and that investigations were ongoing.

Meanwhile, local authorities are trying to establish how Mr Brunno arrived and if he had any involvement with local criminal activity.

He is not the first Italian criminal to be arrested in or on the way to Malta. In August, Camorra boss Aldo Gionta was arrested by Italian police as he was boarding the catamaran to the island at the Pozzallo sea passenger terminal.

Gionta, 42, who had evaded the Italian police since May, had a false ID card and €1,000 in his pocket and was disguised as a tourist.