One of Italy's most wanted mafia bosses has been caught after 20 years on the run, with the authorities finding him asleep in his bed, police say.

Ernesto Fazzalari, 46, was arrested in the southern region of Calabria. He had been fleeing a life sentence for murder.

Police described him as a leading figure in the 'Ndrangheta, one of Italy's most powerful mafia clans.

The group is thought to be behind much of Europe's cocaine trade.

Fazzalari did not resist arrest, the authorities said, and was found with a female companion.

He first fled in 1996, and was convicted in absentia 1999 of crimes including murder, attempted murder, extortion and mafia association.

The government has hailed the arrest, with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tweeting: "Thank you to the judges and the forces of order. Viva l'Italia."

Fazzalari was the second most wanted mafia fugitive after Matteo Messina Denaro, a suspected leader of the Sicilian mafia, the Cosa Nostra.