What's the only thing better than Mafia Wars on Facebook (which boast 25 million players, reportedly)?  Real life Mafia on Facebook.

Yes, contradictory to movie depictions of the Italian mob as fearful of technology due to the danger of surveillance, some members of the real life Italian Mafia are keeping it in the family on Facebook.  Apparently the Mafiosi share the same addiction to the world's top website and largest social network that the rest of us do.

That addiction led to this week's arrest of mobster Pasquale Manfredi.  Manfredi, 33 years-old, was the boss of the notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia organization from the Calabria region in southern Italy.

In Mafia circles, Manfredi was known as "Scarface".  Like Al Pacino's fictional crook who shares the same nickname, Manfredi was a murderous psychotic with a lust for heavy weaponry.  Manfredi is facing a laundry list of charges in Italy, including multiple counts of murder, Mafia associations, and drug violations.  However, his highest profile and flashiest charge is the murder of a rival Mafia family member in 2002 using a rocket launcher.

Manfredi reportedly loved Facebook and had over 200 friends.  He would regularly log in from his safe house where he was hiding from police and chat with his buddies.  He went by the name "Georgie" and logged in, reportedly, using a pre-paid wireless internet thumb-drive.  

In the end, his frequent chats allowed police to locate his secret hideout and storm it.  When the police made their entry, Manfredi reportedly had just been in the middle of an intense Facebooking session.  He tried to flee to the rooftop, where he was apprehended.

The Italian authorities are thrilled to finally have the dangerous criminal in custody.  They're also investigating his Facebook friends list to see if it provides clues that would help them track down other fugitive Mafia members.

This all goes to show that a) criminals are pretty stupid and b) Facebook can be hazardous.