49 suspected Italian mafia members arrested after major investigation

Italian police have arrested 49 suspected members of the ‘Ndrangheta, the mafia in the far south of the country, on the outskirts of Milan. Among them is a woman who allegedly ran a local chapter of the gang.

The arrested men and women are charged with extortion, drug trafficking, violence and arson, among other charges. Some of them are said to have intimidated people with severed ones goat and pig heads to send to them.

The arrested woman would be the head of a gang of the ‘Ndrangheta of Rho. She was even more ruthless than men and was involved in extortion and intimidation, the Milan prosecutor told local media. It’s not often that women hold leadership positions in the mafia world, which is dominated by men.

The purpose of the operation was to deal with the ‘Ndrangheta in the municipality of Rho, north-west of Milan. Not only people have been arrested, but drugs, weapons and ammunition have also been seized. The gang’s income was used to purchase businesses, homes and livelihoods for the gangsters’ families.

According to a spokesman for the investigative services, the police investigation shows that the ‘Ndrangheta has expanded. Italy’s most powerful mafia organization hails from the southern region of Calabria, but is increasingly active in the country’s industrial north.

Following another investigation, focused on drug trafficking and extortion, 37 people were also recently arrested in Naples. According to the police, they have links with the Camorra.

The government is concerned about the increase in organized crime. The city council of the town of Anzio, south of Rome, was dissolved on Thursday after it became clear the mafia had infiltrated it, Reuters news agency reported.