Police on Thursday
arrested 16 people including an alleged mobster and two well-
known associates of the southern Puglia region's Sacra Corona
Unita (SCU) crime syndicate.
The suspects, arrested on various charges including mafia
association, usury, extortion and money laundering, also include
four entrepreneurs from Mesagne in the province of Brindisi and
a former local councillor from the same city.
One of the suspects, 41-year-old SCU boss Francesco
Campana, was already in custody in Pavia afollowing his arrest
in April 2011.
Police also seized assets worth one million euros during
the sweep.
Investigations began in 2011 following a report from a
regional councillor of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza
Italia party, Danilo Cristolla.
The FI councillor had approached loan sharks linked to the
crime syndicate in a bid to pay off debts contracted to finance
two earlier regional election campaigns.
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