Cops smash mafia clan

Rome - Italian police have arrested 182 suspected members of the powerful Strisciuglio mafia clan in the southern region of Bari, said public prosecutor Giuseppe De Benedictis on Monday.

About 1 500 civil and military police officers were involved in the massive operation on Sunday night against the Strisciuglio, considered by the Italian courts to be the most powerful and most fearful mafia clan in the entire Bari region.

The suspects were accused of involvement in the mafia, murder, drug and cigarette trafficking, extortion and possession of illegal weapons.

De Benedictis said that in total, 215 members of the Strisciuglio clan were being sought by police or had been jailed.

On January 11, French police arrested an high-level Italian Mafia suspect accused of links to a vast Sicilian drug trafficking network. Italy was expected to seek his extradition.