This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/6970067.stm
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 2 | Version 3 |
---|---|
Mafia suspects arrested in Italy | Mafia suspects arrested in Italy |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Police in southern Italy have arrested more than 30 suspected members of rival Mafia gangs which are linked to the killing of six Italian men in Germany. | |
Hundreds of police raided the small town of San Luca, the focal point of a bitter feud between rival clans among the Calabrian Mafia, the 'Ndrangheta. | |
The town has been blighted by vendetta killings for more than a decade. | |
Police said brothers of two of the men killed outside a Duisberg pizza parlour on 15 August were among those arrested. | |
"The families that are fighting in Calabria are the same ones who fought in Germany," senior police officer Antonio Fiano told the Reuters news agency. | |
Secret bunker | |
Reports said the camouflaged and armed police moved into San Luca, a hilltop town on the toe of Italy, before dawn, after prosecutors issued 40 arrest warrants late on Wednesday. | |
Presumably there was going to be a reaction, given that these two clans hate each other so much Police official A Mafia feud spills over | |
Three men were found hiding in an underground bunker hidden under a house, which was only penetrated when a special police unit used pneumatic drills to smash their way inside, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome. | |
Other raids uncovered sophisticated security and surveillance systems, Reuters reported. | |
Five women were among those arrested. | |
But the suspected killers were not arrested, with police saying the multiple arrests were necessary to prevent an outbreak of revenge slayings. | |
At least eight suspects remain on the run, police say. | |
"Presumably there was going to be a reaction, given that these two clans hate each other so much," a senior police official told the Associated Press news agency. | |
Egg feud | |
The murders in Duisburg took place after a birthday party celebration. Police fear further killings in the 'Ndrangheta feud | |
The 'Ndrangheta, which is notorious for vendettas, is believed by police to control cocaine trafficking in many parts of Europe. | |
Membership of the 'Ndrangheta - which means "Honoured Society" - is believed to number in the tens of thousands. | Membership of the 'Ndrangheta - which means "Honoured Society" - is believed to number in the tens of thousands. |
The clan feud in San Luca, a town of about 4,500 at the southern tip of Italy, dates back to an egg-throwing incident in 1991. | |
A fight broke out which left two young men dead and another two injured. |