The authorities in Italy and
Germany embarked on a huge operation targeting to the Gela-based
Rinzivillo clan on Wednesday.
Police were executing arrest warrants for 37 people in
Sicily, Lazio, Lombardy, Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna in Italy
and in Germany.
Assets worth 11 million euros were seized as part of the
operation.
A Roman lawyer and two Carabinieri police officers were among
the people arrested.
The cops are accused of illegal access to the force's
databases.
They are suspected of passing on confidential information to
members of the clan, which has long been allied with the Madonia
and Corleonesi groups.
The lawyer is suspected of being a go-between for the mafia
with other professionals.
The Rinzivillo clan allegedly exercised a chokehold on the
Sicilian fish market, drug trafficking between Italy and Germany
and the agri-food sector in Rome as well as collusion between
white-collar workers and "unfaithful" State officials,
prosecutors said.
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