57 wanted in mafia sweep across Italy

ROME (AP) — Local politicians, bankers and businessmen were among 57 people wanted Wednesday in connection with a mafia sweep across Italy targeting drug trafficking and extortion rackets, police and news reports said.

A local mayor and a tourism official from the southern region of Calabria were among those detained in early morning raids, the ANSA and Apcom news agencies reported.

The raids were focused on the southern region of Calabria — home of the 'ndrangheta organized crime syndicate — and Umbria, in central Italy, the carabinieri paramilitary police said.

The investigation, code-named Naos, uncovered an association between the 'ndrangheta and the Naples-based Camorra mob, with members working outside their traditional territories and alongside local criminal groups, a police statement said.

The ring focused on drug trafficking and extortion rackets, with money reinvested in construction projects, particularly hydroelectric utilities and tourism buildings in Calabria, reports said.

Mafia boss dies in jail aged 83

A former Mafia godfather, known by the nickname "the Pope", died in prison where he was serving multiple life sentences.

Michele Greco, 83, who had been ill for several weeks, was a contemporary of top gangsters Toto "The Beast" Riina and his successor as 'boss of bosses', Bernardo Provenzano.

Arrested in 1986 after several years on the run, Greco had been a member of the 'cupola', the Mafia's board of directors. He earned his nickname by being a conciliatory voice between rival Mafia factions.

The Italian state claims to have made great steps in recent years in cleaning up the Mafia, the crime organisation based in the island of Sicily.

Italian and US police arrested 77 suspected members last week after a three-year probe into drug trafficking and money laundering. The latest boss of bosses, Salvatore Lo Piccolo, was arrested in November after nearly a quarter century on the run.

On Wednesday Italian police arrested 60 people suspected of involvement with the 'Ndrangheta and Camorra crime gangs - the equivalent of the Mafia based on the southern Italian mainland.

The police said they were breaking up a drugs and money laundering "joint venture" between the two gangs.