A woman films the chaos in Palermo, Italy, after the country's most wanted man, Matteo Messina Denaro, was arrested by officers belonging to the Special Operations Group (ROS).

The mafia boss, chief of Cosa Nostra, had been on the run for 30 years. He was arrested on January 16 in a private hospital, La Maddalena, where he had been undergoing chemotherapy for a year under a false name.

The footage shows a resident of Palermo, who lives near a national gendarmerie station, reacting to the capture of Messina Denaro. Sirens wail and police cars speed on the road as she takes the video.

The mafia boss, who was one of the most wanted men in Europe by Europol, has now been transferred to a maximum security detention facility.

His arrest constitutes a landmark moment for Italy. Back in 2002, Messina Denaro was tried and sentenced to life in absentia for numerous atrocious crimes. They include the killing of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, two famous anti-mafia prosecutors, of Giuseppe Di Matteo, an 11-year-old child, and the terrorist attacks that shook Milan, Florence and Rome in the 1990s.

Translation of the soundbites:

00:00 - 00:07
"Guys, it's a mess here because I live close to Carabinieri and they caught Mr. Matteo Messina Denaro".

00:08 - 00:22
"So, there is a little bit of noise, a mess, look! Behind me, there are Carabinieri officers, police cars, and people looking out of the windows. Mamma mia!"

00:23 - 00:33
"The scene of hooded officers, their eyes could be seen only, with machine guns, shocked me. I tell you the truth, it scared me".

Arrest of mafia boss in Palermo