17 arrested in raids against Camorra crime syndicate

Police in Naples carried out a series of raids early today and arrested 17 people as part of a crackdown on the Camorra crime syndicate in the southern Italian city.

Police officer Sara Caltanese said the arrests took place in the city’s poor neighbourhood of Sanita and that all those arrested were members of the Torino clan, which has been trying to break away from the Neapolitan Camorra – the equivalent of the Sicilian Mafia for the Naples area.

The clan’s alleged leader, Sabatino Torino, was admitted to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after he fell from a second-floor window while attempting a “treacherous escape,” Caltanese said.

Those arrested were charged with drug trafficking, possession of illegal war weapons and extortion.