Jul 01 2008
Dozens of arrest warrants issued in anti-Mafia raids
Caserta — Italian police on Tuesday carried out raids against dozens of suspected members of Mafia gangs, after authorities in the southern Campania region issued 32 arrest warrants.
Police arrested 30 suspected members of the Camorra, the Neapolitan Mafia on charges that included murder, Mafia association, attempted murder, extortion, illegal possession of firearms and receiving stolen goods.
Among those arrested was Paolo Schiavone, nephew of the jailed boss of the Camorra’s powerful Casalesi clan, Francesco ‘Sandokan’ Schiavone.
An Italian appeals court earlier this month upheld life sentences given to Schiavone and 15 other Camorra members.
Tuesday’s police raids took place in the province of Caserta, in Campania, in the Italian capital, Rome, and in Arezzo, Florence and Modena in the centre-north.
In a separate operation targeting members of the ‘Ndrangheta, the Calabrian Mafia, police arrested several suspects after authorities in Reggio Calabria issued over 30 arrest warrants.
Some of those detained included alleged members of two ‘Ndrangheta clans linked to the murder of six Italians last August in a shooting outside a pizzeria in Duisburg, Germany.
Most of the suspects face drug-trafficking charges, including importing cocaine from South America.
Police carried out a third anti-Mafia operation in and around the Sicilian port city of Syracuse on Tuesday after authorities issued 54 arrest warrants. Some arrests were also made in the northern Lombardy region and in the central Marche region.
Those arrested face charges of attempted murder, extortion, drug trafficking, running illegal gambling dens, and illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Dozens of arrest warrants issued in anti-Mafia raids - 1 July 2008 - AKI - This story was found at: http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.2301350141
