Italian police hunt mafia suspects, arrest 61

PanARMENIAN.Net - Italian police have arrested 61 people, impounded goods and froze assets worth more than €30m in dawn raids that highlighted in dramatic fashion the extent to which the country’s mafias have spread from their southern homelands to the rest of the country, the Guardian reports.

The focus of Operation Fourth Step was Umbria, in central Italy – an area known for its Renaissance frescoes, rolling green hills and foreign second homes rather than its links to the mobsters of the Mezzogiorno. Yet, according to a police statement, the raids on Wednesday, Dec 10, stemmed from “widespread infiltration of the local economy” in the province of Perugia by the ‘Ndrangheta of Calabria.

Those arrested were accused of offences including extortion, loan-sharking, fraud, drug-trafficking and living off immoral earnings. The police said the ‘Ndrangheta had used “arson and intimidation” to penetrate legitimate businesses, particularly in the construction industry.

Operation Fourth Step came as further details emerged of an organised crime syndicate operating in Rome, another traditionally mafia-free zone. Trials in the north of Italy in recent years have shown the ‘Ndrangheta in particular had succeeded in establishing a presence in the areas around Milan and Turin, respectively the financial industrial and capitals of Italy.

It was not immediately clear whether Wednesday’s raids were linked to a separate operation in Reggio Calabria, the biggest city in the ‘Ndrangheta’s heartland. Police there were acting after the issue of 25 arrest warrants in connection with a dragnet codenamed Operation Godfather.

The raids were thought to stem from the arrest four years ago of Giovanni Tegano, one of Italy’s 30 most wanted mobsters. Tegano, who spent 17 years in hiding, is currently serving a life sentence. He was a leading player in a ‘mafia war’ between 1985 and 1991 that left more than 600 people dead.