Palermo's Anti-Mafia District Directorate has launched a series of searches at Villa Sofia and Civico hospitals as part of the investigation into the cover provided to super boss Matteo Messina Denaro during his 30-year fugitance. The investigation aims to dismantle the network of connivance that allegedly favored the mob boss, who died in prison on September 23, 2023. Among the professionals at the center of the investigation is Antonino Pioppo, a 69-year-old ophthalmologist and former head physician at Villa Sofia, now serving at Civico. Investigators, coordinated by prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia, are reconstructing the role of some doctors who allegedly facilitated the fugitive status of the last Corleone boss by exploiting their position within the health system.