Rome - Italian police arrested Tuesday three mafia suspects
linked to the killing of six African immigrants near Naples on
September 19, news reports said.
Police surprised the three - all wanted members of the Casalesi
crime family of the Neapolitan mafia, the Camorra - in their hideout,
a small villa near Licola, a north-western suburb of Naples.
Police also seized two Kalashnikov assault rifles and two pistols
which may have been used to gun down the Africans who were killed in
nearby Castel Volturno, the reports say.
The arrests follow a massive manhunt involving more than 400 extra
police launched in the aftermath of the killings of the Africans -
three men from Ghana, two from Liberia and one from Togo.
Last week police arrested another Camorra suspect in connection
with the killings of the Africans who were gunned down shortly after
an Italian casino owner was shot dead. Investigators believe the same
Camorra hitmen carried out both attacks.
Also early on Tuesday morning, in a separate operation, police
arrested more than 20 suspected members of the Casalesi clan and
seized over 100 million euros (144 million dollars) in Camorra
assets.
Among those arrested is the wife of a notorious jailed Camorra
boss, Francesco Schiavone.
The woman, 48-year-old Giuseppina Nappa, was picked up on charges
of receiving on behalf of her husband the monthly 'income' the
Camorra pays out to its members from its drug trafficking and
extortion activities.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni hailed both operations as a major
victory against the Camorra which he recently said was waging
a 'civil war' against the Italian state.
'We will keep on the pressure until this war is won,' Maroni said
in a morning television interview.
Italy's conservative government last week approved the deployment
of 500 soldiers to assist police operating in the Camorra's heartland
including Naples and surrounding areas.
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