A Palermo Mafia sweep on Tuesday netted 16 people who were arrested on charges of mafia association and other organised crime offences including aggravated extortion.
The operation was the culmination of a two-year probe into the Brancaccio-Ciaculli 'mandamento' or Cosa Nostra branch.
The probe uncovered the organisational structures of the Mafia families in the Palermo districts of Roccella and Brancaccio.
It identified the leaders of the clans, police said.
Some 50 episodes of extortion by Cosa Nostra loan sharks were reconstructed.
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