Massive international police operation targets Italian mafia | DW News

More than 100 people were arrested during early morning raids on Wednesday in several European countries as part of a crackdown on the Italian ’Ndrangheta mafia. The arrests were part of a coordinated probe by investigators in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, German authorities said. In Italy, the Carabinieri arrested 108 people suspected of being involved with the group, and in German, more than 1,000 officers searched dozens of homes, offices, and stores in several states. The suspects are accused of money laundering, criminal tax evasion, fraud and smuggling of drugs, mafia-type criminal association, possession and trafficking of weapons. Codenamed Operation “Eureka,“ the raids came after almost four years of highly secretive investigations into the Calabrian mafia organization. The group is based in Calabria in southern Italy and is seen as one of the largest and most powerful crime syndicates in Europe. The mafia organization is believed to have smug