Written notes from Mafia fugitive buried in Sicilian soil

ROME — The No. 1 Cosa Nostra fugitive communicates with henchmen using written messages buried in dirt or hidden under boulders on sheep ranches and comes and goes from Sicily, possibly thanks to high-level protection, investigators said Monday after nabbing some of his alleged accomplices.

In western Sicily, police arrested 11 men investigators contend helped convicted Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro wield power despite being at large since 1993.

Investigators described how Messina Denaro, 53, disdains telecommunications and relies on handwritten notes, or “pizzini,’” to relay orders. The notes were wadded tight, covered in tape and hidden under rocks or dug into soil until go-betweens retrieved them.

Messina Denaro was convicted in absentia as a mastermind of 1993 bombings in Rome, Florence and Milan. The attacks were aimed at intimidating investigators after “Boss of Bosses” Salvatore Rina was arrested in Palermo following two decades as a fugitive. After the 2006 arrest of Bernardo Provenzano, after 43 years in hiding, Messina Denaro became the mostwanted Mafia chieftain.

Police used eavesdropping devices and video cameras hidden in trees near farmhouses to help discover the message-delivery system. Whenever one of the alleged Messina Denaro aides used to speak of “sheep,” “fertilizer” and “ricotta,” a cheese that is made from sheep’s milk, other suspects would soon come to the farmhouses. The farm terms were code words signaling there were messages for or from the fugitive.

Principato said the fugitive sometimes “leaves Sicily and even Italy.” How he eludes capture isn’t known, but “he clearly enjoys some very, very important protection.”