Italian police on Monday
arrested 49 people including a mayor in an operation against the
Calabria-based 'Ndrangheta mafia.
The sweep took place at Messina, Vibo Valentia, Salerno, Matera,
Brindisi, Taranto, and the two northern cities of Alessandria
and Pavia.
Those arrested are accused of a range of mafia crimes including
drug trafficking, attempted murder, usury, illegal weapons
possession and vote buying.
The mayor of the Calabrian city of Rosarno, Giuseppe Idà, was
placed under house arrest.
Police said he was elected in 2016 with the backing of the local
Pisano clan.
A Rosarno town councillor, Domenico Scriva, was also placed
under house arrest.
The officials are accused of mafia vote buying.
The biggest ever trial against 'Ndrangheta, Italy's richest and
most powerful mafia, opened last week in Vibo Valentia.
Some 350 local mobsters and their alleged white-collar
accomplices face over 400 charges in the largest Mob trial since
the 1986-92 maxi-trial of Cosa Nostra in Sicily.
'Ndrangheta, which controls the European cocaine trade, has
taken over from its Sicilian cousins as top Italian mafia
outfit.
The other main mafia is the Camorra, in Campania around Naples.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
