More than 100 arrested in European swoop on ‘Ndrangheta crime group

German and Italian police have arrested more than 100 people on Wednesday in a crackdown on the Italian ‘Ndrangheta organised crime group, German public prosecutors and police in the two countries said.

The suspects are accused of money laundering, criminal tax evasion, fraud and the smuggling of drugs, mafia-type criminal association, and the possession and trafficking of weapons.The arrests were part of a coordinated investigation by Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, German authorities said.The ‘Ndrangheta, which has its roots in the southern region of Calabria, the toe of Italy’s boot, has surpassed Cosa Nostra as the most powerful mafia group in the country, and one of the largest criminal networks in the world.Italy’s Carabinieri police carried out 108 arrests across the country in an investigation based in the southern city of Reggio Calabria, they said in a statement. A further 15 people were detained on the orders of police in the northwestern port of Genoa.German police also arrested dozens of suspects in early morning raids.In Belgium, police raided more than 20 addresses, prosecutors said, adding they would provide more details at a news conference later in the morning.

via Reuters