(ANSA) - Palermo, July 17 - Italian police and the FBI arrested 19 people in a big joint operation on Wednesday after a probe revealed alleged ties between Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia and New York's Gambino Crime Family.
The Italian side the operation, which involved over 200 police and was code-named 'New Connection', targeted the Inzerillo clan, a Palermo group that was decimated by late Cosa Nostra 'boss of bosses' Totò Riina in a turf war in the 1980s.
Investigators believe that the Inzerillo clan had reconstructed its stronghold in the Palermo district of Passo di Rigano. The suspects, alleged bosses and underlings, are accused of crimes including mafia association, aggravated extortion and fraud. Their ring allegedly had its paws in a wide range of businesses, such as wholesale food supplies, gambling outlets and online betting. The arrested people included Francesco and Tommaso Inzerillo, respectively the brother and cousin of Totuccio Inzerillo, a boss murdered by Riina's Corleonesi group in the 1980s.
Salvatore Gambino, the mayor of the province of Palermo town of Torretta, was arrested too.
He is accused of external participation in mafia association.
Huge operation reveals Cosa Nostra-Gambino ties
Suspected mafia bosses and underlings arrested in joint US-Italian operation code-named 'New Connection'.