Mafia clan managed the sale, 16 arrests

CATANIA, 12 FEB – Sixteen members of a mafia group accused of handling drug trafficking were arrested by Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Catania and by the Police.
They were charged of mafia association and criminal association aimed at trafficking and dealing with drugs and the port and the possession of weapons. With the operation, called the 'Armored City', the Catania District Attorney believes it has disarticulated the historically named Tomasello-Mazzaglia-Toscano cosca and now run by two 'families', Amoroso and Monforte, and linked to the Santapaola-Ercolano clan at the top of Cosa Nostra. Among the arrested the ex mayor of the town of Biancavilla, Marcello Merlo.