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8 arrested in Italy anti-mafia operation for alleged explosives trafficking

Xinhua, February 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Italian police on Thursday carried out an anti-mafia operation against 'Ndrangheta, the crime syndicate based in the southern region of Calabria.

Eight people were arrested and assets worth 10 million euros (11.4 million U.S. dollars) were seized in the operation targeting alleged members of a powerful family operating in the regional capital Reggio Calabria.

Those arrested were charged with mafia association, drug trafficking, aggravated extortion and possession of TNT explosives.

This latest charge was considered particularly relevant to the probe by prosecutors of the Anti-Mafia District Directorate in Reggio Calabria who ordered the operation.

The arrested are suspected of trafficking TNT explosives retrieved from an Italian navy warship that sunk off the Calabrian coasts during World War II.

The ship had been looted by the 'Ndrangheta for its load of war explosives and weapons, prosecutors said at a press conference.

Some 10 blocks of TNT weighing over 2 kg and five triggers had been seized to fellow mobsters belonging to the same 'Ndrangheta clans in the initial phases of the police operation in 2012.

The explosive proved to be the same kind found in the holds of the sunken warship, and was employed in rudimentary explosive devices used in intimidating attacks for extortion purpose, according to police.

Ten affiliates of the same 'Ndrangheta clan had previously been arrested after the seizure of the TNT and sentenced to several years in prison for trafficking in arms and explosives, criminal association and robbery in December 2014.

Explosives such as TNT had been used in the early 1990s in a series of deadly bombings by the Sicilian Cosa Nostra that killed 21 people.

Among the victims were high-profile anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, who were killed along with their bodyguards by massive explosions in 1992.

Most recently, anti-mafia magistrates have come under threat by the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, which is now believed to be the most dangerous among Italy's main mafia organizations. Endit