It sounds like something out of a Mario Puzo novel. But one of Italy's most wanted mafia figures actually made his great escape in the most unlikely of all places: the sewer system of a small town near Naples, Italy.

Italian police had been closing in on Giuseppe Setola for some time. The purported boss of the Neapolitan Camorra crime organization is on the country's 30 most wanted list and has been on the run for months.

He's already been sentenced to life in prison for murder, after being convicted of planning and carrying out a massacre of six African immigrants in Naples, a killing spree that led to riots in the streets. Authorities contend he was trying to send a message about their alleged involvement in drug trafficking, something the Cosa Nostra considers to be their territory. 

He was originally allowed to serve house arrest because of a medical problem, but fled.

So when cops finally closed in on their man Monday, they thought they had him surrounded. But the wily crime boss had one last trick up his sleeve. Or rather, down it.

As 50 armed officers moved in on Setola's tiny apartment, the wanted man and his bodyguard used a specially made trap door to climb down into the twisting and winding sewer system under the city, and somehow escape detection.

The tunnels that carry the filth are described as labyrinth-like, with twists and turns that go on for kilometres. Investigators say they were walking on the floor of his hideout while he and his companion were hiding underneath, scrambling down to elude them.

Officials discovered the opening under a bed but the well prepared criminal was one step ahead of them. The opening was rigged with a sophisticated locking system and by the time experts could work it free, the pair was long gone.

And so much for honour - Setola left his wife behind to face police. She's been taken into custody for questioning but her husband has completely disappeared. 

An Italian policeman shows the tunnel used by a suspected mafia boss on Italy's most wanted list to escape as police arrived at his home on January 12, 2009 in Trentola Ducenta, southern Italy. It is not the first time that Setola has managed to escape police. Photo credit: Francesco Pischetola/AFP/Getty Images