Police arrest 12 in Camorra crackdown

(ANSA) - Naples, January 13 - As many as 400 finance police officers were deployed Tuesday in a crackdown on the Mallardo clan of the Naples-based Camorra mafia, police said.
    They seized companies worth a total of eight million euros and serving 12 arrest warrants.
    Eight were against people already in prison on other charges and four were against people already under house arrest, They included public health psychiatrist Gennaro Perrino, who was charged with issuing fake medical certificates for jailed mob boss Vincenzo D'Alterio, nicknamed 'Enzo the sick man,' who used them to finagle better prison conditions and State disability payments.
    The Mallardo clan allegedly controlled a profitable bakery business and invested in car sales, construction and financial services along a coastal strip that included the towns of Licola, Varcaturo and Lago Patria.
    Finance guards confiscated real estate, vehicles, financial records and companies after a six-month investigation that included wiretaps and tailing suspects, police sources said.
    Charges against the 12 ranged from Camorra association to extortion, fraud, and coercion.