At least 40 arrested in major anti-mafia operation against Camorra in Italy

Italian police on Tuesday carried out a major operation against Camorra, the crime syndicate based in the southern region of Campania, local media reported.

At least 40 people were arrested, and variously charged with mafia association, extortion, illegal possession of weapons, and receiving stolen goods.

All those arrested are alleged members of the Casalesi, a clan inside Camorra that is rooted in the small town of Casal di Principe, according to Naples-based Il Mattino newspaper.

The operation was ordered by prosecutors of the Anti-mafia District Directorate (DDA) in Naples, and carried out by some 200 officers in 13 provinces across the country, police said.

Arrest warrants were issued also for Carmine and Nicola Schiavone, two notorious members of the Casalesi clan who are already in jail. Both men are sons of the imprisoned boss Francesco "Sandokan" Schiavone, who had long led the Casalesi clan and is now serving a life sentence since 2008.

Carmine and Nicola Schiavone had been arrested in 2013 and 2010 respectively, and jailed for mafia-related crimes. Yet, DDA prosecutors believed they were still leading part of the clan's business from behind bars. Currently, four out of five sons of "Sandokan" Schiavone are serving jail sentences.

The Casalesi clan has long been considered the most powerful group inside Camorra, with a global 30 billion euros (32 billion U. S. dollars) turnover, according to an estimation made by Anti-mafia Investigative Directorate (DIA) in 2008.

Their power received a severe blow with a 10-year maxi trial called "Spartacus" in 2008, in which 36 members of the Casalesi clan were convicted, 16 of them to life sentences. Enditem