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A leading Italian mafia boss who escaped a Sardinian prison using bed sheets has been recaptured in France.

Marco Raduano, who was on Europol's list of Europe's most wanted criminals, was arrested in Corsica, officials in France and Italy confirmed.

He had been serving a 24-year-sentence for drug trafficking and other crimes, according to Europol.

Raduano fled the high security jail in February last year using knotted bed sheets to scale down the walls.

Footage from the time of his escape showed Raduano gripping sheets that were dangling against the wall before he quickly plunged to the ground and ran away.

Italian authorities announced that his close aide, Gianluigi Troiano, was also detained near Granada in southern Spain.

"The carabinieri's (police's) capture abroad of two dangerous fugitives, Marco Raduano, and his right-hand man, Gianluigi Troiano, represents another major blow to organised crime," Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said.

Raduano, 40, is said to be a boss of the Foggia crime syndicate, which is sometimes described as Italy's fourth mafia - after the more famous organisations in Sicily, Calabria and Naples.

He was arrested on Thursday in Aleria while he was dining in a restaurant with a young woman, a source told AFP news agency.