Italian state police guide Salvatore Lo Piccolo (R), who magistrates believe is the Sicilian Mafia's new "boss of bosses", into a car after his arrest in Palermo Nov. 5, 2007. Lo Piccolo, 65, was arrested in a 40-strong police raid on a house in the Palermo countryside along with his son Sandro, 32, and two other top Palermo bosses. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    ROME, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Italian police arrested on Monday Salvatore Lo Piccolo, who is believed to be the Italian Mafia's new No. 1 boss.

    Lo Piccolo, 65, was arrested in a 40-strong police raid on a house in the Palermo countryside along with his son Sandro, 32, and two other top Palermo bosses.

    Italian Police entered the one-floor, four-roomed building while Lo Piccolo was leading a Mafia summit, which is shown by three plastic coffee cups and two recently stubbed-out cigarettes.

    Lo Piccolo had been vying with a younger Trapani rival to become the Mafia's undisputed head since police put an end to Bernardo Provenzano's 42 years on the run 18 months ago.

    "Salvatore Lo Piccolo was the only one able to take up Provenzano's mantle. He was the top man in Palermo and was scaling the peak of the organization," according to Italy's Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Piero Grasso.

    "This exceptional result is a big step forward in our fight against Cosa Nostra," he said.

    Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said the arrest would loosen the Mafia's grip on local businesses.

    Lo Piccolo's clan controls much of Palermo through protection rackets and has even imposed a fixed charge of 15 euros to keep electricity running in parts of the Sicilian capital, according to Italian News Agency ANSA.

    Police said Lo Piccolo had the upper hand because he had been Provenzano's right-hand man in Palermo. Many of the dozens of pizzini found at the old boss' hide-out turned out to have been addressed to Lo Piccolo.

    Furthermore, his greater experience won him the respect of the older generation of bosses as they pursued Provenzano's policy of keeping as low as possible while strengthening their power network.


Italian state police guide Salvatore Lo Piccolo (R), who magistrates believe is the Sicilian Mafia's new "boss of bosses", into a car after his arrest in Palermo Nov. 5, 2007. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

    These bosses had been reined in by Provenzano when he put an end to the Riina-driven war against the state that claimed Falconeand Borsellino's lives.

    According to a study issued last week by the Italian retail association Confcommercio, Mafia is Italy's biggest private enterprise, generating some 9 billion euros or 7 percent of GDP annually -- more than car maker Fiat or fuel giant ENI.