Around 40 suspects have been arrested in a police crackdown on the powerful 'Ndrangheta organised crime ring in Italy. Some 300 officers took part in the raids on the homes of some of the most influential families linked to the mob based in southern Calabria.
Three men were still being sought following the early morning raids. The 'Ndrangheta now dominates the European cocaine trade, outdoing its better-known Sicilian rival, the Cosa Nostra.
It gained international notoriety last summer when it was blamed for the killing of six Italians outside a pizza restaurant in Germany. Investigators believe the shooting was part of a vendetta between rival Calabrian families going back more than 16 years.
