Italian police on Friday impounded assets worth some 280 million euros and arrested 23 people in a major anti-mafia operation in Lazio and three other Italian regions.
The arrests were carried out in the provinces of Rome, Naples, Milan and Pescara, said police.
The suspects are accused of extortion, usury, money-laundering and fraud, according to police.
The seized assets belonged to two gangs based in Rome and nearby Monterotondo that were rapidly expanding their activities in the capital and included several 'celebrity' bars and eateries, police said.
The impounded assets also included gambling halls, real estate, financial assets, companies, cars and motorbikes, police added.
Through drug trafficking and usury rackets in Rome and the its surrounding province, the gangs had created a business "empire" and had cowed their victims into silence through threats and violence, Rome prosecutor Michele Prestipino said.
A number of professional people and bank employees had abetted the gangs, Prestipino told reporters.
"These professional played an important role in these criminal organisations, creating shell companies, while their accomplices in banks helped them launder money," Prestipino stated.
