Anti-mafia police on
Thursday arrested 24 suspects on conspiracy to commit organized
crime and illegal weapons possession following investigations
into the Pesce-Bellocco clan of the Calabria-based 'Ndrangheta
mafia.
Among those arrested were 57-year-old Giuseppe Spataro,
uncle of Giuseppe Pesce, 33, who was believed to be in control
of the clan when he turned himself into authorities in May 2013.
Spataro had already been arrested last month along with
seven other suspected Pesce-Bellocco clan members, but was later
released from jail on insufficient evidence.
Thirteen of those arrested on Thursday are accused of
having assisted Giuseppe Pesce during the three years he spent
hiding from authorities; five of those thirteen are accused of
having built a bunker that housed Pesce during his time in
hiding.
One of two investigations leading to Thursday's arrests
revealed dynamics that unfolded following the April 2014 release
of clan founder Umberto Bellocco, Giuseppe Pesce's
father-in-law, after serving 21 years in prison.
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