31 arrested in anti-mafia operation against 'Ndrangheta in Rome

Italian police arrested at least 31 people in an anti-mafia operation here on Tuesday.

Some 400 police officers carried out several raids in the capital city and across the country, and 600 kilos of drugs and some firearms were seized, police said.

The operation was ordered by prosecutors of the Anti-mafia District Directorate (DDA) in Rome. It targeted people allegedly belonging to the 'Ndrangheta, the southern Calabria-based crime syndicate currently considered the most powerful of the three major Italian mafia organizations.

Italian police also found a rare document containing 'Ndrangheta's affiliation practices, which investigators considered "of great relevance," Italian media reported.

According to the police, the secret paper contains all detailed initiation procedures that members of the Calabrian mafia have to follow in order to join the organization, Il Messaggero newspaper said.

All people arrested were charged with mafia association, drug trafficking, extortion, and use of firearms.

They were also suspected of being involved in the murder of Vincenzo Femia, an alleged leading 'Ndrangheta member who was killed in 2013 in Rome.

The police had already arrested three men suspected of being the killers of Femia on Jan. 8.

After the arrests of the alleged killers early in January, anti-mafia prosecutor in Rome, Michele Pristipino, had declared the murder of Femia constituted "a relevant warning about the presence of the 'Ndrangheta in Rome." Endit