Eight arrests in 'Ndrangheta op

(ANSA) - Catanzaro, August 13 - Police in the southern city of Catanzaro on Thursday arrested eight people and seized some 1.5 million euros in assets in an operation to bust a 20-year extortion ring on the coast of Calabria.
    The arrested people are allegedly members of the Gallelli and Procopio-Mongiardo clams of the Calabrian mafia, both of which operate in the Catanzaro area.
    The gangs alleged targeted businesses that won public contracts and the owners of hotels and holiday villages.
    The seized assets were properties and shares in companies.
    Catanzaro anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Bombardieri praised the courage of a entrepreneur who reported the extortion.
    "Today's operation stems entirely from the statements made by a businessman who had been tormented for 20 years and found the courage to report the tyranny he was subjected to, thanks in part to the results of investigations in the area recently," Bombardieri said. In one case, the businessman was forced to hand over 3% of a 500,000-euro public contract to the mobsters, investigators said.