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Police officers shortly after Matteo Messina Denaro's arrest in January.
Now his sister has to answer as well
Photo: ANTONIO PARRINELLO / REUTERS
Italian police have arrested the sister of recently arrested mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, Rosalia Messina Denaro, for links to a mafia organization.
Italian media reports.
Matteo Messina Denaro, the supreme godfather of Sicily's Cosa Nostra, was Italy's most wanted man until his arrest on January 16 after 30 years on the run.
Faced with a long list of murders and other crimes, he was sentenced in absentia to multiple life terms.
The 60-year-old Messina Denaro is now in the high-security prison in the city of L'Aquila in Abruzzo, which has particularly harsh prison conditions for former mafiosi and serious criminals.
In detention, the Sicilian continues his chemotherapy for a tumor in his intestines.
The arrest of his 67-year-old sister is the result of an investigation that led to her brother's arrest, according to Italian police.
Secret notes not burned
On the run, Messina Denaro therefore followed the mafia tradition and communicated with relatives and allies via "pizzini", small pieces of paper, which are usually written in encrypted codes.
His sister was one of the people Messina Denaro was so in contact with, police said.
The arrested woman did not follow her brother's advice to burn the "pizzini" after use.
That's how the investigators finally found out about her brother.
According to investigators, Rosalia Messina Denaro is said to have played an important role in her mafia family and acted as treasurer.
Her home was adorned with a large portrait of her fugitive brother wearing sunglasses and a crown, according to police video.
Investigators have long suspected that Matteo Messina Denaro was aided by family and mafia clan members during his decades-long evasion from justice.
atb/Reuters
