Italian police on Wednesday
arrested eight people in the second police raid on the Mafia in
Palermo in two days.
The eight have been charged with mafia association, aggravated
extortion and arson damages, police said.
They allegedly belong to the mandamento (branch) of Palermo boss
Tommaso Natale.
Police said they exerted "blanket extortion pressure" in the
mandamento, using loan sharks and enforcers to extract the
'pizzo' protection money.
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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