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Italian police forces during a raid
Photo: dpa
Police have arrested 55 suspected mafiosi in a crackdown on organized crime in Italy.
They are suspected of having links to various Sicilian mafia clans, Italian police said.
They are also accused of extortion, drug trafficking and possession of weapons and explosives.
The raids took place mainly around the Sicilian town of Caltanissetta, but also in other parts of Italy.
“Operation of particular importance”
According to the police, around 500 emergency services were involved in the large-scale operation.
"Today's operation is of particular importance not only from a quantitative but also from a qualitative point of view," Salvatore De Luca from the responsible public prosecutor's office in Caltanissetta told journalists.
On the Italian Mediterranean island, the Cosa Nostra is primarily known and active as a mafia organization.
In addition to it, there are smaller criminal organizations such as the Stidda.
The focus was particularly on the town of Gela in Sicily, located south of Caltanissetta by the sea.
There, two larger mafia families allied with the Stidda to organize the drug business.
They are said to have used illegally earned money to build several greenhouses for growing cannabis.
The drugs were sold in the area or used as a medium of exchange with the Calabrian mafia 'Ndrangheta to obtain cocaine.
According to De Luca, the suspects' weapons are particularly worrying: "The result is a Cosa Nostra that does business, deals in drugs, has a considerable arsenal of weapons and is prepared to kill and demonstrate its power."
kub/dpa