The policeman took advantage of the Christmas holiday season by blending in as Santa in the parking lot of a shopping area in the outskirts of Catania in eastern Sicily while he waited for the suspect to collect the 260 euro-montly payment demanded by the Santapaola-Ercolano crime clan. When the mafioso exited the store the policeman handed him a candy, followed him to his car and and told him he was under arrest.
Following the arrest, the store's owner hugged the undercover Santa who he hopes but an end to 11 years of mafia extortion payments.
