Italian police arrested dozens of people accused of links to a clan of the powerful Calabrian mafia and seized assets worth up to €250 million, Italian police said today.
The crackdown is the second significant wave of arrests in a week aimed at dismantling the 'Ndrangheta, which has overtaken the Sicilian mafia in recent years as Italy's most powerful crime syndicate and plays a key role in the global drugs trade.
The 67 arrest warrants executed in morning raids had been issued for individuals with ties to a clan in the southern Italian town of Corigliano Calabro. Two brothers of the town's mayor were among those arrested, the police said.
Some of the arrests were carried out in areas as far away as Bologna and Milan. The detainees face charges of links to the mafia, extortion, loan sharking and drug trafficking.
Also today, police in Rome said they were carrying out 14 arrests in a separate investigation into another 'Ndrangheta clan accused of loan sharking and trafficking of drugs and arms.
Last week Italian police arrested at least 320 people tied to the Calabrian mafia - including senior figures - in one of the biggest crackdowns on organised crime in recent years.
Reuters