40 arrested in police operation targeting youth gangs

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 15 - Roughly 40 people were arrested on Friday in a nationwide police operation targeting youth gangs.
    Over 500 police officers were involved in the sweep across 14 provinces.
    A quarter of the people arrested were minors.
    Police also confiscated guns, knives, knuckle-dusters, drugs and cash allegedly deriving from drugs sales.
    The sweep in the provinces of Arezzo, Bari, Catania, Genoa, Milan, Modena, Naples, Palermo, Padua, Pescara, Reggio-Emilia, Rovigo, Salerno and Verona largely focused on areas of youth aggregation and places linked to the 'trapper' music genre, a popular combination of rap and hip hop that often promotes social emancipation through violent crime.
    The government of Premier Giorgia Meloni has pledged to crack down on juvenile crime, youth problems and 'educational poverty' in the wake of a series of high-profile crimes involving minors in deprived urban areas including Caivano near Naples and Palermo in Sicily. (ANSA).