Italy: Dozens arrested and millions of euros seized in anti-mafia bust

Naples, 6 June (AKI) - Italian police on Wednesday moved to arrest 47 Naples mafia suspects and impounded millions of euros of assets in a major operation around the southern city of Naples.

The suspects face charges of mafia association, extortion and possessing illegal weapons. The assets seized by police include property, furniture and vehicles belonging to the Naples mafia or Camorra's Mallardo crime family whose power base is the town of Giugliano in Campania.

Wednesday's raids at various locations in the province of Naples and Caserta 'decapitated' the Mallardo's command structure, police said.

The Mallardo clan had regrouped after its historic leaders, Giuseppe and Francesco Mallardo were jailed for life. It controlled the local extortion racket and drugs trafficking in the area, according to investigators.

The Mallardos had formed an association with the Licciardi and Bidognetti branches of the Camorra crime syndicate which ran "various illegal activities" in the provinces of Naples and Casert, the investigators said.

The Camorra is one Italy's oldest, most powerful and violent mafia. It has its roots in and around Naples in the Campania region.