Carabinieri police in Reggio Calabria on Thursday carried out an operation to arrest 45 people accused of mafia association, international drug trafficking, extortion and attempted murder, among others charges, on behalf of two local 'Ndrangheta clans.
The operation, coordinated by the DDA anti-mafia
investigative unit, followed a year-long probe that led earlier
this month to the arrest of 32 people.
The suspects are alleged members of two Ndrangheta clans in
Rosarno identified as Cacciola and Grasso mainly dealing in
extortion and drug trafficking, importing cocaine from South
America and hashish from Spain and Morocco, investigators said.
The drug was then mainly sold in Lombardy, Piedmont and
Sicily, according to police.
Investigators said four women, including a criminologist, had
a leading role within the organization.
The women are in particular accused of dispatching messages
to affiliates, including detained clan members, and of
laundering proceeds of the drug trade.
One of them has been identified as Angela Tibullo, 36, who
faces charges including external mafia association, judicial
corruption and obstruction of justice.
Carabinieri police believe that the criminologist, thanks to
her profession, "was key in the dynamics" of the organization
and in "pursuing the illicit interests of a number of Ndrangheta
clans", according to investigative sources.
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