15 Calabrian mafia suspects arrested

Reggio Calabria (Italy) April 27 (IANS/AKI) Police arrested 15 people in Reggio Calabria on Thursday in an operation against the Calabria mafia s Condello and Stillittano clans extortion and nightclub bouncing rackets in the southern Italian city.

The 15 suspects are accused of mafia association drugs trafficking possessing and carrying illegal weapons attempted extortion cruelty to animals and running a racket that controlled nightclub bouncer services in Reggio Calabria police said.

The suspects are aged between 27 and 44 had prominent roles in the Calabrian mafia or Ndrangheta s Condello and Stillittano clans according to investigators.

The arrests were carried out on the orders of prosecutors in Reggio Calabria amid a probe into turf wars between mafia clans in Reggio Calabria s for control of its seafront nightclubs.

Drug trafficking extortion and money-laundering rackets have in recent decades made the Calabrian mafia or Ndrangheta Italy s wealthiest and most powerful international crime syndicate.

It operates throughout Italy and overseas and its influence and networks extend from northern Europe to Australia and North and South America.

--IANS/AKI
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