Police in the port city of Catania on Wednesday arrested nine mafia suspects who face charges of trafficking "large quantities" of drugs from Albania and of pushing these in eastern and southeast Sicily.
The suspects belong to a mafia gang operating in Vizzini in the province of Catania and Francofonte in the province of Syracuse that had links to Catania's Santapaoloa-Ercolano clan as as well as the Nardo di Lentini clan, police said.
Wednesday's arrests followed an investigation that shed light on a mafia turf war that had led to four murders and two attempted murders in the area since November 2012, said police.
Cooperation from several informants had helped police uncover the command structures of the local mafia clans involved in the deadly feud, according to investigators.
In a separate operation, Sicilian police arrested four mafia suspects on Wednesday who are suspected of extorting several showroom vehicles from two car dealers in the eastern coastal town of Taormina.
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