Italian Security Forces Arrest Almost 100 People In Counter-Mafia Operation
Almost 100 people were arrested early Monday in the southern Italian region of Apulia as a result of a vast operation against organized crime, Italian Carabinieri military police said.
The operation under the code name "Vortice
Maestrale" was held in the city of Bari through the joint efforts of
special police units and the Carabinieri, with the coordination of the local
Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate. They targeted the powerful mafia clan
Strisciuglio, which controls almost all criminal activity in the Bari area.
Law enforcement troops sent 96 people to prison, and three
more were put under house arrest. All of them have been charged with
involvement in mafia activities, drug trafficking, extortion, causing grievous
bodily harm, illegal possession and carrying of weapons, and other crimes.
In total, 147 people are probed within the case.
Monday's arrests come as part of a long-running
investigation that has set up and documented in detail the criminal hierarchy
and methods of gangsters' control of the area from 2015 until now. Notably, some
criminals involved in this case received arrest warrants in prison, where they
are already serving sentences for other crimes.
Details of the operation will be unveiled at 11 a.m. local
time (09:00 GMT) during a special press conference, during which members of the
administration of the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Public Prosecution
Office are expected to talk to reporters.
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