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Six arrested for usury, money laundering in anti-mafia operation in Italy

Xinhua, October 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Italian financial police on Tuesday carried out a wide anti-mafia operation targeting a most influential clan of the 'Ndrangheta, the crime syndicate based in the southern region of Calabria.

The operation was ordered by anti-mafia prosecutors in Rome, and swept several provinces in the country, including the capital city, Catanzaro and Vibo Valentia in southern Italy, and Bergamo in the north.

Six people were arrested, and 17 were put under investigation, investigators told a press conference.

Former senior councilor in Rome's regional government Vincenzo Maruccio from anti-graft Italy of Values (IdV) party was among those investigated.

All the people involved were variously charged with usury, money laundering, illegal financial activity, fake registration of properties, and other financial crimes, all aggravated by mafia methods, prosecutors said.

Some 20 raids were carried out on Tuesday morning, and assets worth some 5 million euros (5.5 million U.S. dollars) were seized in Italy, Switzerland and the United States, including an unspecified number of real estates and companies.

All those arrested and under investigation were allegedly members or affiliates of the Mancuso family, which is considered by prosecutors the most powerful clan of the N'drangheta.

The Mancuso clan is known to be based in the Calabrian city of Vibo Valentia, but operates across the whole country, and especially in the Lazio region around Rome and in the wealthy Lombardy region in northern Italy.

Several probes showed the Mancuso's main business focuses on drug trafficking, and the clan is suspected of having strong links with Colombian armed groups involved in international drug trade.

Former IdV regional councilor Maruccio was specifically charged with money laundering for allegedly helping a member of the Mancuso clan to wash up to 750,000 euros, prosecutors said.

The politician had already been arrested and jailed in 2012 for embezzling the party's public funds for about 1 million euros to pay off gambling debts, local media reported.

The 'Ndrangheta is currently believed to be the most dangerous among the three main mafia organizations in Italy.

According to a study released by Demoskopika research institute last year, the group generated an estimated annual turnover of about 53 billion euros in 2013, equal to some 3.5 percent of Italy's gross domestic product (GDP).

The mob earned some 24.2 billion euros from drug trafficking, and 19.6 billion euros from illegal waste trafficking, the research institute said. (1 euro = 1.10 U.S. dollars) Endit