Police have arrested the suspected leader of a Naples criminal clan involved in a vicious turf war that sparked dozens of murders last year, officials said today.

Italian police arrested 48 people in pre-dawn raids today as part of efforts to crack down on a crime syndicate in the Naples area, crippling two rival clans, police said.

Paramilitary police reinforced checkpoints in Naples today after the mob war that has plagued the southern Italian city claimed four more victims.

Hundreds of Italian police were arresting dozens of people around Naples today as part of a fight against a bloody mob turf war which has terrified the southern Italian city, police said.

Gunmen shot two men in a smoke shop and a third while he read a newspaper in his car in separate attacks today in neighbouring towns, as a crime clan's turf war continues to bloody the Naples area, state TV said.