Alleged members of mafia arrested after Germany shooting

Hundreds of police raided a small town in southern Italy today, burrowing through a secret tunnel and searching homes as they arrested more than 30 suspected members of organised crime clans believed to be involved in a feud that claimed the lives of six Italians in Germany earlier this month.

Most of the arrests took place in San Luca, the town where the two rival clans of the ’ndrangheta, the local version of the Sicilian Mafia, are based.

Three suspects were found hiding in an underground bunker under a building in the centre of town, officials said.

Sky TG24 TV showed a video in which a police officer is seen crawling through an opening in a wall, apparently part of a hideaway, and stepping into what appeared to be a wine cellar with many glass jugs and bottles.

Suspects in handcuffs are seen being led away by police.

The massive operation, which involved some 300 police forces, did not target the killers directly involved in the Germany murders.

But it put a total of 32 suspects behind the bars, possibly averting the risk of further violence, said Renato Cortese, a top police official in the regional capital of Reggio Calabria.