Police in the southern Italian city of Naples on Monday arrested ten people on suspicion of mafia association, extortion and other crimes committed over more than a decade.
Those arrested are all linked to the Naples mafia or Camorra's bloodthirsty Casalesi clan and all except two were already in custody, local daily Il Mattino reported, citing investigators.
The suspects allegedly extorted so-called protection money from "numerous" businesses in the Campania region's agricultural sector from 2002 to 2014.
One suspect sent a message to his wife from jail telling her which businessmen to threaten so they would withdraw complaints they had made to police and pay 'protection money' to her, according to investigators.
The suspects allegedly extorted sums of 2,000-5,000 euros from their victims whenever they won a contract and also at Christmas, Easter and the 15 August bank holiday, investigators said.
