This Europe: 'Mafia' conman forced students on terror trip

A holiday jaunt ended in fear for three teenage Romans when a man who had befriended them convinced them that he was the son of a suspected mafia supremo, Bernardo Provenzano, extorted money from them and forced them to drive him from Amsterdam to Sicily, one of the students said.

The student, aged 18, named as Mattia, told the Rome daily La Repubblica that the man tricked the students into giving him a lift back to Italy, The man, named as Ivano Lombardi, a Sicilian, reportedly punched and slapped the teenagers and demanded money and presents on a 15-day trip through Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Lugano, Paris, Grenoble, Turin, Cremona, Bologna, Florence and Rome.

The Sicilian was said to have released two students in Rome, threatening them with mafia violence if they talked, and forced the third to drive him to Palermo. Police traced them there through calls made on Mattia's mobile phone, and arrested the suspect.

Mr Provenzano, 79, believed to be boss of all Sicily's Cosa Nostra, has been in hiding for 39 years.