Over 160 arrested in northern Italy in operation targeting 'Ndrangheta

More than 160 people were arrested across northern regions on Wednesday in a major operation targeting 'Ndrangheta, Italy's most powerful mafia-type syndicate, local reports said.

Thousands of policemen took part in the operation, which was carried out in the northern regions of Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto as well as in Calabria, where 'Ndrangheta is based, and island region Sicily in the south, Corriere della Sera national newspaper reported.

The arrested were accused of crimes including mafia association, extortion, usury, illegal possession of arms, false registration of assets and fake invoicing.

According to Corriere della Sera, among the arrested there were important entrepreneurs in the construction sector, including Giuseppe Iaquinta, the father of striker Vincenzo Iaquinta, who was in the Italian national football team which won the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

A center-right councillor of Reggio Emilia, a city in Emilia Romagna, Giuseppe Pagliani, was also sent to prison on charges of external complicity with mafia-type associations, Rai State television said.

In a press conference held in Bologna, the capital city of Emilia Romagna where the operation was launched, National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Franco Roberti defined the intervention as "unprecedented" and "decisive" in the fight against the mafia in northern regions.

"I cannot recall an intervention of this type to tackle a strong and monolithic criminal organization, deeply infiltrated," he stressed.

The 'Ndrangheta was able to penetrate the wealthy economy of Italy's northern regions by dialoguing with local entrepreneurs, investigators were quoted as saying by ANSA new agency.

'Ndrangheta is widely considered Italy's most powerful mafia. According to Demoskopika, a research institute based in the town of Rende in southern Italy, the syndicate counts around 60,000 affiliates in some 30 countries of the world.

In recent years, 'Ndrangheta has got its hand on the legitimate sectors of northern Italy, including the real estate, service industry and trade, often covered up by unlawful transactions and political connections. Enditem