Messina Mafia clans hit by 33 arrests

(ANSA) - MESSINA, APR 9 - Messina Mafia clans were hit by 33 arrests on Friday, police said.
    Some 21 were taken to prison, 10 placed under house arrest, and the remaining two ordered to report to police regularly.
    They were charged with mafia association, extortion, fraudulent transfer of assets, kidnapping, vote buying, grievous bodily harm, possessing and carrying illegal weapons, and drug trafficking.
    The police probe found that a recently released boss, in prison for 13 years, Giovanni Lo Duca, had taken back control of his clan in the eastern Sicilian port city.
    It also found that the Messina bosses held summits in a billiard hall.
    Another arrested boss, Salvatore Sparacio, received some 10,000 euros from local politician Natalino Summa ahead of municipal elections in June 2018.
    Police said they had found evidence that Cosa Nostra was returning to the lucrative drugs business.
    Among the clans' other activities, police said, was running protection rackets on nightclubs and discos at the heart of the Messina nightlife scene. (ANSA).