Godfather Giuseppe Dell’Aquila’s capture comes three weeks after the arrests of another two Camorra “bosses”, Mario Caterino and Feliciano Mallardo.

Godfather Giuseppe Dell’Aquila’s capture comes three weeks after the arrests of another two Camorra “bosses”, Mario Caterino and Feliciano Mallardo.

More significantly, perhaps, it also comes just four days before Sunday’s run-off vote in a bitterly contested Neapolitan mayoral contest, in which the centre-right candidate from the People of Freedom (PDL) party of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been accused of links to the Camorra by his centre-left rival.

On the run since 2002, Dell’Aquila (42) is wanted on extortion, robbery and money-laundering charges. At least one Mafia turncoat, Salvatore Giuliano, has described him as a “ferocious” killer. Investigators see this arrest as a major coup since he is thought to be a key figure in the organisation of the Contini-Mallardo crime families in Naples.

Dell’Aquila has in the past narrowly avoided capture. Last year, perhaps acting on a tip-off, he was the protagonist in a “cinematic” escape when he jumped from a luxury yacht into the Bay of Naples and swam to the nearby shore as police were boarding the yacht.

Police struck early yesterday, raiding Dell’Aquila’s most recent “safe house” in Varcaturo, on the coast close to Naples, at 5.30am.

A Mafia boss on the run is often found hiding in the roughest of circumstances – in deserted farmhouses or in a converted cellar.

Dell’Aquila, however, appears to have been living in a small but well-appointed ground-level flat in an ordinary, respectable apartment block. Media pictures indicate his comfortable apartment was equipped with a large TV, electronic equipment and its own CCTV security camera system.

“This is another important signal from a centre-right government that is registering consistent success in the battle against organised crime,” senior PDL figure Maurizio Gasparri said.

“Another of the 30 most wanted criminals in Italy has been struck off the list today. This operation is worth more than a thousand words.”

Mr Gasparri’s comments appear to be a reply to government critics who argue that various senior centre-right figures have been compromised by alleged links to organised crime.

In particular Gianni Lettieri, the centre-right candidate in Sunday’s run-off vote in Naples, has been consistently accused of links to the Camorra.

In a TV debate last week, Mr Lettieri’s run-off rival, former investigating magistrate Luigi De Magistris, accused him of wanting to consign the city “into the arms of the Camorra”. Mr De Magistris also said Mr Lettieri was closely linked to Nicola Cosentino, a former Berlusconi government junior minister who resigned last July after public prosecutors confirmed that he was being investigated on charges of Mafia collusion.

Notorious gangster Terry ­Adams, 56, will be quizzed by Scotland Yard detectives following ­advances in DNA science.

Britain's most feared crime godfather is to be questioned about the ­unsolved murders of two of his closest associates.

Notorious gangster Terry ­Adams, 56, will be quizzed by Scotland Yard detectives following ­advances in DNA science.

They have reopened an ­investigation into gangland “hits” on Adams family enforcer Gilbert Wynter, 37, and financial adviser Solly Nahome, 48.

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Detectives hope improvements in forensic science will provide the vital breakthrough in the cases that have remained unsolved for 13 years.

Items of clothing and the last car Wynter used have been ­recovered and will be retested for potential DNA clues.

Detectives also plan to speak to two other men who were also part of the notorious crime syndicate from London's Clerkenwell. In all, more than 20 associates of the family will be questioned again.

Detective Chief Inspector ­David Manning from Scotland Yard’s Homicide and Serious Crime ­Command, is leading the new probe. He said: “Having reviewed both investigations and with ­advances in DNA techniques, we decided to launch a last-ditch effort to bring them to a ­successful conclusion.”

The Adams Family gang – known as the A Team – is believed to have been behind 25 gangland murders. Detectives said they were so ­violent they made the Krays look like “lovable rogues”.

The murders include the ­mysterious disappearance of Wynter and the death of Nahome by a motorbike gunman.

Both are said to have double-crossed the family. DCI Manning added: “We are now convinced that the two cases are linked.”

Adams, from North London, was jailed for money- laundering in 2007 but detectives have so far been unable to pin anything else on him.