PALERMO, Italy, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Two law enforcement officials who had been investigating the Sicilian Mafia have been arrested in Italy on suspicion of working secretly for the Mafia.
The London Independent said one of the men, Giuseppe Ciuro, had been investigating alleged links between Marcello dell'Utri, a close friend of Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, and the Mafia.
The other suspect, Giorgio Riolo, an expert in espionage technology, was supposed to be hunting Bernardo Provenzano, the capo di capi of the Sicilian Mafia, who has been sought for 40 years. The newspaper noted that if Riolo's guilt is proven, it will help explain how Provenzano has managed to evade capture for so long.
A third man arrested, Michelle Aiello, one of Sicily's richest businessmen, is believed to have treated Provenzano for cancer at the hospital he runs near Palermo.
The Independent said if the men are found guilty, it would explain the present calm in Sicily, with past shootouts and daylight assassinations no longer occurring.
