Rome, Jan 22 : Forty-eight people were arrested in Italy as part of a large anti-mafia operation that also involved a national political leader, according to prosecutors and local media reports.
Coordinated by Catanzaro chief prosecutor Nicola Gratteri and carried out by some 370 officers from the country’s various police forces, the investigation targeted powerful families of the ‘Ndrangheta mob rooted in the southern Calabria region, reports Xinhua news agency.
Thirteen people were brought to jail and another 35 put under house arrests, among them were several businesspeople, civil servants, and white collars, authorities said on Thursday.
The alleged mafia members involved belonged to the clans of Aracri, Arena, and Grande Aracri, all of them based in the province of Crotone.
All those arrested were charged variously with mafia association, collusion with mafia group, vote-buying, and other mafia-related crimes.
Among those still under investigation but not targeted by arrest warrant was Lorenzo Cesa, leader of opposition party Union of Christian Centrists (UDC).
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