MAFIA: BLITZ IN GELA, 88 ARRESTS AND 22 COMPANIES SEIZED

(AGI) - Caltanissetta - A very wide-ranging anti-mafia operation against the clans of Gela (Caltanissetta) is underway in the area itself as well as in various other Italian provinces, with the carrying out of 88 arrest warrants.

Carabinieri from Caltanissetta and Gela, with collaboration by police, are involved in the operation. The investigation was focussed on the clans of the Rinzivillo of Gela, which allegedly managed contract tenders and subcontracting across various Italian regions. Arrests, in addition to in Gela, are being made in Messina, Catania and Trapani, as well as the provinces of Varese, Brescia, Como, Padua, Savona, Pavia and even Roma, where the mafia clan reportedly had its base. Those under investigation, most of whom are from Gela, are accused of money laundering of enormous sums of money from drug trafficking, of blackmailing entrepreneurs and shopkeepers and of illegally being awarded contracts and subcontracts in many Italian cities. The restrictive measures were issued by the preliminary investigative judge from the Caltanissetta tribunal, Giovambattista Tona, on the request of the anti-mafia prosecutors Renato Di Natale, Nicolo' Marino, Rocco Liguori, Alessandro Picchi and Antonino Patti. The prosecutors also were awarded an international request for the arrest of individuals in Spain and England. As part of the investigation 22 companies have also been put under seizure. (AGI) .