Police arrest 35 suspected mafia members in Sicily

Italian law enforcement arrested 35 suspected mafia members on Tuesday, police said.

The suspects were arrested in a series of raids aimed at capturing Matteo Messina Denaro, a boss of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra mafia.

Denaro has been on the run since 1993.

Who was targeted in the raids?

The raids focused on alleged mafia members in the province of Trapani in the far west of Sicily.

Those arrested are suspected of criminal conspiracy, extortion and gambling, among other offences. The operation involved searches and asset seizures from other suspects, and targeted 70 people in total, the Carabinieri police force said.

Police said Messina Denaro was still able to issue commands despite his disappearance.

Messina Denaro has been sentenced in absentia to a life term for his role in the death of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, who were murdered in separate incidents in 1992.

He is also wanted for his role in bomb attacks in Florence, Rome and Milan in 1993 which killed 10.

Other raids

Italian law enforcement has recently conducted a number of raids targeting alleged mafia members.

On Monday, police in Bergamo in the northern Lombardy region arrested 30 suspected members of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta mafia. The suspects were accused of money laundering, racketeering and trafficking stolen goods.

Bergamo investigators seized €6.5 million ($6.45 million) in goods, and one tax authority employee in the region is being investigated for corruption.

Last Thursday, authorities reported the arrest of 202 suspected members and accomplices of the 'Ndrangheta, including politicians and high-ranking local officials.

sdi/msh (Reuters, dpa)