Using coded messages and meeting in isolated rural spots, a
network of supporters has helped alleged Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro -- on
the lam for over two decades -- run his criminal empire.
But Italian
authorities say they have struck a blow against the secret network, with the
arrests in Sicily of 11 people they accuse of being Mafia members.
Among them are
those with no criminal records and little to suggest a connection with
organized crime, including a shepherd, the owner of a dairy farm, a truck
driver and a surveyor.
According to
police in the Sicilian capital of Palermo and the anti-mafia department, these
suspects were part of a "men of honor" structure that since 2012 had
allowed Messina Denaro to relay his orders and stay in charge.
They'd meet clandestinely in remote countryside locations to
hand over the boss' letters, or "pizzini," using carefully coded
language when they spoke to avoid detection, a police statement said.
Bank
accounts scrutinized
The pizzini -- little pieces of paper
wrapped in tape and destroyed after reading -- were delivered only every three
months in a bid to escape the attention of investigators and prevent them
tracking the origin of the notes, police said.
Police
interceptions revealed that the "postmen" for the boss used a kind of
coded farmer's language to conceal their meanings, referring to "sheep to
shear," "vegetables to harvest," or "ricotta cheese"
that needed to be collected.
The mail exchanges were carried out in open countryside because
the noise made police wiretapping more difficult.
But despite such
precautions, the net appears to be closing in on Messina Denaro.
Another 18 people were seized as part of the same police
operation.
Other financial
investigations are underway in Swiss banks regarding bank accounts that
investigators suspect have been used to finance Messina Denaro's life on the
lam.
At a news
conference Monday in Palermo, Procurator Teresa Principato said investigations
into Messina Denaro continue and are now focused on finding whoever has been
shielding him since he went on the run in 1993.
"It's clear
that he has very, very important protections," Principato said. If he
wasn't protected at a high level, she added, "it wouldn't be possible for
him to be still be a fugitive after so many years" during which the Cosa
Nostra's sometimes deadly operations have continued.
Italian
columnist and mafia expert Francesco La Licata wrote Tuesday in the national
daily La Stampa that Messina Denaro is the last of the Mafia bosses on the run
for whom "it's worth the hunt," in terms of the huge "human and
economic resources" needed.
Suspects
in their 70s
Those arrested include 77-year-old
farmer Vito Gondola, who had previous convictions, the police statement said.
He's accused of being the Mafia head in the Mazzara del Vallo district and
having had a pivotal role in the delivery of Messina Denaro's messages,
coordinating times and methods of delivery.
Others detained
are 77-year-old Pietro Giambalvo, allegedly a member of the Mafia clan of Santa
Ninfa who met with Gondola, and Leonardo Agueci, a 27-year-old accountant with
no criminal record who's described by police as a loyal person used to relay
communications between bosses.
Police accounts
of the notes passed between Messina Denaro and his alleged network may ring a
bell with Mafia watchers.
In 2006,
investigators swooped on then-Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano -- on the run
since 1963 -- capturing him without a struggle near his Sicilian hometown, the
village of Corleone, the same made famous by author Mario Puzo in "The
Godfather."
Then aged 73, Provenzano was accused by authorities of having
run the Cosa Nostra with an iron fist since taking charge. His modus operandi?
Orders passed to underlings through precise, tightly-folded paper notes.
Prime Minister: Let's capture the top boss
The latest moves against those with
suspected Mafia connections come amid an apparent determination to crack down
on organized crime in Italy.
In a post on his official Facebook page, Italian Prime Minister
Matteo Renzi thanked all those involved for "the blow inflicted to the
Mafia organization" through the arrests.
"Let's now
move on to finally capture the super boss on the run. Italy is here, all
together and united, against organized crime," he said.
In March,
Italian President Sergio Mattarella told CNN's Christiane Amanpour how his own brother had been murdered at the hands of the Mafia more than
three decades ago.
"In all
these years I've always tried to emphasize and to promote the need to combat
the Mafia," he said. "Because it is a cancer which is oppressive and
which stifles everybody's freedom and reduces the possibility for the areas in
which it's present to prosper and to develop."
Speaking in Turin in June, Pope Francis also urged his audience
to fight back against organized crime and corruption.
"We say
'no' to corruption that is so widespread that it seems to be an attitude,
normal behavior," he said. "But not in words, rather in deeds. We say
'no' to Mafia collusion, fraud, bribes, and the like."
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