Two men believed to be the "postmen" who delivered notes to accused Sicilian Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano have been arrested, Italian police said Saturday.One suspect was arrested at his Palermo home Friday evening and the other was picked up at a Rome airport last month, police said.Through them, Provenzano was able to oversee and communicate with a Mafia network that stretched across Sicily, said Col. Jacopo Mannucci Benincasa of the Carabinieri police in Palermo, the Sicilian capital.Provenzano was captured in 2006 after decades on the run and 13 years as the leader of the Sicilian Mafia. He has been convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison for more than a dozen murders of mobsters and investigators.
During his years as a fugitive, Provenzano sent handwritten notes — known as "pizzini" — about the administration of Cosa Nostra. He used codes to conceal business interests and the identities of those he dealt with.Provenzano relied heavily on the "pizzini" and their delivery, investigators say.
Antonino Fortunato Morreale, 40, the suspected "postman" apprehended in Palermo, recently was convicted of Mafia association by a tribunal in Palermo and sentenced to a nine years in prison.The other suspect, Andrea Panno, had eluded capture during a massive anti-Mafia operation in 2005, the Palermo Carabinieri said. He was picked up in June by U.S. officials, who had been alerted by Italian investigators that the fugitive was living in Guilford, Connecticut, with his family, the Carabinieri said.
Panno, 47, arrived in Italy on July 12 and was immediately arrested at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport, police said. He remains in custody in the Italian capital.