ROME – Italian police arrested at least 115 people in anti-Mafia operations across the country, authorities and news reports said Tuesday.
Milan police said they had arrested 34 people in pre-dawn raids in Milan and other cities in northern Italy, as well as in Catanzaro, in the southern region of Calabria, spokesman Roberto Robioni said.
The suspects are believed to deal in drug and arms trafficking and have ties with the 'ndrangheta crime syndicate, which is based in Calabria. Eight more people were still being sought, Robioni said.
In a separate operation, Naples police arrested 81 people across the country, suspected of criminal association linked to international drug trafficking. Italy's Defense Minister Arturo Parisi expressed satisfaction for the "brilliant operation."
More people were being arrested in Ecuador, Spain, Colombia, the Netherlands, Germany and Bulgaria, the ANSA news agency reported.