“Nitto” Santapaola was caught after years on the run in 1993, and spent more than 30 years behind bars for instigating a series of killings and other attacks.

Known as il cacciatore (the hunter), he rose to the top ranks of Sicily’s Mafia in the city of Catania from the 1970s.

He was convicted of the 1984 murder of journalist Pippo Fava as well as a car bombing that killed judge Giovanni Falcone, in one of the most brutal attacks on the judiciary in Italy’s history.

Falcone was blown up near Palermo in May 1992 in an an attack that also killed his wife and three police officers, in what became known as the Capaci massacre.

Weeks later anti-mafia judge Paolo Borsellino was also murdered in a car bombing in which his bodyguards were killed.

Nitto Santapaola was detained in a Sicilian farmhouse the following year.

In 2006, he was jailed for life for involvement in both attacks.

He was earlier convicted of involvement in the killing of fellow Catania mobster Alfio Ferlito and three police officers as Ferlito was being transferred to prison in 1982.

Santapaola was one of a number of Sicilian mobsters who were prosecuted for the two murders, and despite several trials it was never clear who gave the order for the car bombings.

He was imprisoned amid tough security, under the so-called 41bis regime, an article of the Italian criminal code introduced after the two judges were killed.

The measures were originally meant to cut off mafia bosses from the outside world and other inmates, and to prevent them from ordering criminal acts from behind bars.

Santapaola died in the prison medicine department of the San Paolo hospital in Milan, after being transferred from the city’s Opera prison due to declining health.

All of them were dual citizens and their identities have been withheld, Canada’s foreign minister Mélanie Joly said.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Canada reportedly urged Ottawa to “stop making irresponsible remarks”, as pundits feared a further downturn in relations between the countries after years of strain.

China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that it had acted “in accordance with the law”, while the embassy said there was “solid and sufficient” evidence for their crimes.

Beijing had “fully guaranteed the rights and interests of the Canadian nationals concerned”, the embassy said, urging Canada to respect “China’s judicial sovereignty”.

China does not recognise dual citizenship and takes a tough stance on drug crimes. However, it’s rare for the death penalty to be carried out on foreigners.

Joly said she had been following the cases “very closely” for months and had tried with other officials, including former prime minister Justin Trudeau, to stop the executions.

In a statement to Canadian media, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod said Canada had “repeatedly called for clemency for these individuals at the senior-most levels and remains steadfast in its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all cases, everywhere”.

China imposes the death penalty on serious crimes including those related to drugs, corruption and espionage. While the number of executions are kept secret, human rights groups believe China has one of the highest execution rates in the world.

“These shocking and inhumane executions of Canadian citizens by Chinese authorities should be a wake-up call for Canada,” said Ketty Nivyabandi from Amnesty International Canada. “We are devastated for the families of the victims, and we hold them in our hearts as they try to process the unimaginable.”

“Our thoughts also go to the loved ones of Canadian citizens whom China is holding on death row or whose whereabouts in the Chinese prison system are unknown.”

In 2019, Canadian national Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling, in a high-profile case condemned by the Canadian government. He was not among the Canadians that were executed.

“We’ll continue to not only strongly condemn but also ask for leniency for other Canadians that are facing similar situations,” Joly said on Wednesday.

Relations between Canada and China have been icy since 2018 after Canada detained a Chinese telecom executive, Meng Wanzhou, on a US extradition request. China arrested two Canadians shortly afterwards, both of whom have now been released.

In 2023, Canadian media released reports, many based on leaked intelligence, about detailed claims of Chinese meddling in the country’s federal elections. China denied the reports, calling them “baseless and defamatory”.

More recently, China imposed retaliatory tariffs on some Canadian farm and food imports after Ottawa levied Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminium.

Operation Mille sees police forces nationwide work together to tackle the trade in cannabis and the associated violent crime and exploitation.

Last month, Cambridgeshire Police, with the support of the Norfolk and Lincolnshire forces, carried out 12 raids.

Properties in Peterborough, Wisbech, as well as in Holbeach and Boston, in Lincolnshire, were targeted during the week-long operation.

Det Supt Chris Treadwell, said: “Cambridgeshire Constabulary are working daily to disrupt the activity of these criminal gangs and bring offenders to justice.

“We’re hitting criminal gangs where it hurts the most, in their pockets.

“We will continue to work with our communities who play a vital part in helping us tackle the production of cannabis by reporting their concerns.

“Local people are our eyes and ears in our communities and the information they provide is key. Please continue to be vigilant and report any concerns to us.”

Seven people charged in connection with the production of cannabis will appear at Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court on 20 March.

Det Supt Fiona Gaffney, who led the operation, said: “By focusing on this source of income for organised crime groups, we have significantly disrupted their activities and the wider distribution of cannabis within our communities.

“These people routinely use serious violence and the threat of it to protect their trade [and] exploit young and vulnerable people for their own profit.”

In West Yorkshire, the operation saw plants thought to be worth more than £1.6m seized along with a BMW and £3,000 in cash from an address in Leeds.

“Organised crime groups are often connected to violence, exploitation, and anti-social behaviour which causes untold misery in our communities,” said Det Supt Steve Greenbank.

He added that buildings used as cannabis grows can become dangerous due to fire risks, theft of electricity and water damage.

“Sharing information with the police at an early stage allows us to work closely together to tackle cannabis farms before they cause serious damage.

“We are committed to dismantling these operations and protecting our communities from the harm they cause.”

Wedding is wanted for allegedly shipping hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and southern California, to Canada and US locations, and for orchestrating multiple murders and an attempted murder to further these drug crimes.

The US is offering a reward of up to $10m (£7.7m) for information leading to Wedding’s arrest or conviction.

Investigators believe he is living in Mexico, but have not ruled out his presence in the US, Canada, other Latin American countries or elsewhere.

It was not clear if he has a lawyer.

Wedding competed in Giant Slalom snowboarding for Canada during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

His aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “James Conrad King,” and “Jesse King,” the FBI said.

In June 2024, Wedding and his accomplice Andrew Clark, 34, also Canadian, were charged in California with running a continuing criminal enterprise, committing murder in connection with the enterprise and assorted drug crimes, and conspiring to possess, distribute, and export cocaine.

Clark was arrested last October by Mexican authorities and was among 29 fugitives extradited to the US from Mexico last week.

The US indictment alleges that Wedding and Clark directed the 20 November 2023 murders of two family members in Ontario, Canada, in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that passed through southern California. Another family member survived the shooting but was left with serious physical injuries, the FBI said.

Wedding and Clark allegedly also ordered the murder of another victim on 18 May 2024 over a drug debt, according to the FBI.

“The alleged murders of his competitors make Wedding a very dangerous man, and his addition to the list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, coupled with a major reward offer by the State Department, will make the public our partner so that we can catch up with him before he puts anyone else in danger,” Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said in a press release on Thursday.

Those extradited include notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero who has been wanted by the US for the murder of an American agent 40 years ago.

The move – considered to be of the biggest extraditions in Mexico’s history – is seen as a major step in bilateral security relations between the two countries.

It comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on imports from Mexico earlier this year, accusing it of failing to tackle drug trafficking and mass migration.

“As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying cartels and transnational gangs,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on Thursday night.

“We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honour of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers – and in some cases, given their lives – to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels,” she added.

Caro Quintero is one of the founding members of the Guadalajara Cartel and a linchpin in the creation of modern Mexican drug-trafficking.

He was wanted in the US in connection with the torture and murder of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena, in 1985.

Caro Quintero was arrested at the time and spent 28 years in prison in Mexico before being released in 2013 – much to the anger of the Americans.

But in 2022, aged in his 70s, he was recaptured by the Mexican Navy after a dog found him hiding in bushes.

Reacting to Caro Quintero’s extradition DEA Acting Administrator Derek Maltz hailed the move as a “victory for the Camarena family”.

He added: “Today sends a message to every cartel leader, every trafficker, every criminal poisoning our communities: You will be held accountable.

“No matter how long it takes, no matter how far you run, justice will find you.”

Quintero is expected to appear in court in New York on Friday.

Other fugitives extradited include the founders of the brutal Zetas Cartel – Miguel Angel Treviño and his brother Omar Treviño.

Known as Z-40 and Z-42 respectively, the two men ran the feared organisation for years before its eventual demise in the mid 2010s.

Miguel Treviño, who was arrested by Mexican marines in July 2013, was wanted on both sides of the border for ordering massacres and running drugs on a global scale.

Omar Treviño – who was wanted in the US and Mexico on charges of drug trafficking, kidnap and murder – was captured by security forces in Monterrey in March 2015.

Their criminal empire spanned a wide range of illicit activities including cocaine-smuggling, people trafficking, extortion, gun-running and kidnappings.

Police in Webb County, Texas, confirmed the brother’s extradition and warned Americans from crossing into Mexico for fear of reprisals.

Among the other prominent figures included in the extradition are former Juarez Cartel boss Vicente Carrillo Fuentes and Andrew Clark, a Canadian citizen accused by US authorities of being part of a massive US and Canada drug smuggling ring that was allegedly run by former Olympic snowboarder Ryan James Wedding.

According to the justice department, six of the 29 detainees could be subject to the federal death penalty, which the Trump administration restored on the first day of his administration.

The agreement marks a significant departure for the Mexican government, which has historically resisted extraditing its citizens if they might face capital punishment.

Cocaine worth an estimated £4.2m was later discovered at a car wash in Hertfordshire – and a house in Loughton, Essex.

An investigation led by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) found that the gang liaised with contacts abroad to drop the packages in Dorset.

Det Insp Daniel Barker, of ERSOU, said the group “had put significant thought and planning into how they could best bring Class A drugs into the UK”.

Three men pleaded guilty to being concerned in the importation and supply of controlled drugs into the UK.

On Tuesday, a fourth man, Tomas Bauza, 44, was found guilty of supplying drugs but cleared of importation during a trial at St Albans Crown Court.

ERSOU said the flights, leaving from the Cherbourg area of northern France, would avoid radar systems and disable transponders which revealed their whereabouts to other pilots.

On at least three occasions, flights were made to southern England before immediately returning to France, “dangerously” entering UK airspace without the required documents, ERSOU said.

Each time, either Rolandas Bauza, 47, or Martynas Piecia, 37, drove to the same location to collect the parcels.

The Bauza brothers, both of Colson Road in Loughton, Essex, travelled to Dorset a few days earlier to explore potential drop sites, the investigation found.

A fourth man, 33-year-old Arjan Lisaj of Barrells Down Road in Bishop’s Stortford, worked at a car wash in Spellbrook that was being used as a front for criminal activity, investigators found.

He was arrested near the car wash in September 2024, alongside Piecia and Rolandas Bauza. Officers found two blocks of cocaine in the car wash office, while Rolandas was found to be carrying £37,000 in cash.

Tomas was arrested at a raid of the Bauza brothers’ home, which also uncovered 54g of cocaine in the loft and evidence the property had been used as a cannabis factory.

Piecia, of Holst Lane in Thaxted, Essex, is due to be sentenced along with the other three men on 4 August.

Det Insp Barker said the group “went to great lengths in attempting to hide their illicit activities”.

“However, the tenacity of ERSOU’s investigators let to our teams uncovering vast amounts of evidence implicating each member, and we were able to stop a significant amount of cocaine entering our communities.

“We work closely with UK police forces and partner agencies abroad to ensure that those involved in serious criminality such as this are apprehended and brought to justice,” he said.

José Ángel Canobbio, also known as “El Güerito” (little blond one), is accused of being the right hand man of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, one of the sons of infamous jailed drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Mexican security forces say the arrest of Canobbio, who they say was in charge of security for Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, is a severe blow to the Sinaloa cartel.

He was captured just hours after the United States added the Sinaloa cartel to its list of foreign terrorist organisations (FTOs), a move which the Trump Administration says will allow it to better combat the criminal groups.

As well as the Sinaloa cartel, the US state department designated seven other Latin American crime groups as FTOs. They are:

• Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG)
• Gulf cartel
• Northeast cartel
• United cartel
• New Michoacán Family
• Tren de Aragua
• MS-13

All but the last two groups are based in Mexico and the Mexican government has come under huge pressure by the Trump Administration to step up its fight against them and the trafficking of the synthetic drug fentanyl they engage in.

Read more about how fentanyl gets into the US

Earlier this month, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum managed to convince her US counterpart to hold off imposing a 25% duty on Mexican imports to the US for a month.

Mexican security forces will hope that the arrest of Canobbio – who was indicted in absentia by a federal grand jury in Chicago in November for allegedly smuggling fentanyl into the US – will go some way towards showing their commitment to the fight against drug trafficking.

The indictment accuses Canobbio of being the principal advisor, lieutenant and security chief for Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, one of the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán who took over the running of the Sinaloa cartel after their father was jailed.

According to security expert David Saucedo, Canobbio has played a key role in getting the Sinaloa cartel involved in the smuggling of fentanyl to the US.

Mr Saucedo told Mexico’s Radio Formula, that he expected him to be quickly extradited to the US.