Palermo, 16 Nov. (AKI) - Italian mafia boss Domenico Raccuglia who was arrested in the Sicilian city of Trapani on Sunday was expected to be transferred to Pagliarelli prison in Palermo on Monday. The 45-year-old was arrested by Sicilian police in a raid after almost 15 years as one of the country's top fugitives.

Raccuglia was considered the most prominent member of the Cosa Nostra after the most wanted fugitive, Matteo Messina Denaro. He had been sentenced in absentia to three life sentences for murder and other mafia crimes.

Interior minister Roberto Maroni said Raccuglia's arrest was "one of the strongest blows inflicted on mafia organisations in recent years because he was, effectively, the number two of Cosa Nostra."

Police said Raccuglia had been seized in a house near Trapani, on the western tip of Sicily, and taken to the island's capital, Palermo.

He was considered the head of prominent mafia clans operating in and between the two cities.

Police officers said he was unarmed but a search of the apartment revealed several firearms.

Following the arrest of the mafia's Boss of Bosses Bernardo Provenzano in 2006, Raccuglia was named by police as Cosa Nostra's number two after Messina Denaro.

He has been given multiple life sentences for murder including that of the kidnap and killing of 11-year old Giuseppe Di Matteo, the son of a rival.

Raccuglia was listed as one of Italy's 30 most dangerous fugitives.