Dozens arrested in Italian mafia crackdown
About 90 alleged Italian mafia members have been arrested in a Europe-wide operation, just a day after the new boss of the Cosa Nostra and 45 other top mobsters were rounded up.
Police in Europe have arrested at least 84 suspected mobsters and seized around 2 million euros ($A3.1 million) in co-ordinated raids targeting a powerful branch of the Italian mafia.
The raids in Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands are the culmination of an investigation codenamed Pollino that was launched in 2016 against the ‘Ndrangheta criminal group on allegations of cocaine trafficking, money laundering, bribery and violence.
The operation was co-ordinated by Eurojust, the European prosecution agency that fights cross-border organised crime.
Eurojust said the massive operation was the biggest of its kind in Europe. Four tonnes of cocaine were traced during the two-year joint investigation, while cocaine and ecstasy pills were seized in Wednesday’s raids.
“Today we send a clear message to organised crime groups across Europe,” Eurojust vice president Filippo Spiezia said.
“They are not the only ones able to operate across borders; so are Europe’s judiciary and law enforcement communities.”
Italian authorities arrested 41 suspects mainly in the southern regions of Calabria and Catanzaro, Eurojust said.
The latest clampdown on the Italian mafia signals the European authorities’ efforts to combat organised crime groups, reports Fox News.
The ’Ndrangheta is considered the leading mafia group that managed to extend its reach even amid the scrutiny and constant arrests. It’s the only mafia group that operates on all continents, prosecutors say.
The group surpassed Sicily’s Cosa Nostra and the Naples-based Camorra groups, according to AFP, due to its tight on the control of cocaine trade.
The Wednesday arrests came just a day after the authorities announced the arrest of Settimo Mineo, 80, the presumed new boss of the Cosa Nostra. He was arrested together with 45 other top mobsters, Italian authorities said Tuesday.
In Germany, federal police said there had been multiple arrests in early morning raids on premises linked to the southern Italy-based crime group. Five suspects were arrested in the Netherlands, where prosecutors got the ball rolling for the investigation in 2014 with probes into two Italian restaurants. More people were detained over the border in Belgium.
Italian police hailed the co-operation between European police forces, saying it was an important new crime-fighting tactic that allowed investigators in different countries to share information in real time.
Federico Cafiero De Raho, Italian anti-mafia and anti-terrorism national prosecutor, sounded a note of caution, saying the raids only scratched the surface of the powerful ‘ndrangheta, whose tentacles and illicit activities spread all over the world.
Speaking in The Hague, Mr De Raho said the arrests are “nothing” for the ‘Ndrangheta group.
“There are thousands of people who should be arrested and billions of euros that should be seized,” he said.
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