|
Dozens arrested in Mafia swoop
07/12/2004 15:13 - (SA)
Rome - Italian anti-Mafia magistrates ordered the arrest of 65 people as part of a massive police swoop in Naples early on Tuesday in a bid to staunch the bloodletting in a turf war which has killed more than 120 people, Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said.
About 53 Mafia suspects were taken into police custody as part of the ongoing operation involving hundreds of police officers, Pisanu told a news conference in Rome.
"Last night's operation in Naples is an authentic hammer blow to the Camorra," Pisanu said, adding that it was part of a broader government plan to "uproot" the Camorra from the city, where 23 people have been killed in Mafia-related violence in the past month alone.
Backed by helicopters, hundreds of officers from the paramilitary Carabinieri force, customs police and state police moved into outlying areas of the southern port city in the early hours of the morning.
In the grip of Mafia clans
The police concentrated their search operation in the down-at-heel Scampia and Secondigliano areas of the city which have long been known to be in the grip of Mafia clans.
News reports said dozens of women, several with children, descended into the streets to protest the police operation.
Pisanu defended the police record in the city where he sent hundreds of police reinforcements last month.
"It's true that in the last month there have been 23 murders in Naples, almost all of them Camorra-related, but it's also true that since November 1, 686 people have been arrested.
"Millions of euros in various illicit goods have been confiscated and innumerable operations which acted as a shield for criminal activities in the city have been destroyed," he said. - AFP
- SAPA
|
News
