More than 200 police took part in a
major operation against the Nigerian mafia in Italy on Wednesday
led by the flying squads of Turin and Ferrara.
Police made dozens of arrests against the Nigerian mafia
organization called Arobaga Vikings or Norsemen Kclub
International, organized into local cells called Decks and
present in many Italian cities.
National leaders of the mafia, which deals mainly in
prostitution and drug trafficking were arrested.
They included 50-year-old Emmanuel Okenwa aka 'Boogye', an
AfroBeat DJ andthe self-styled "King of Ferrara".
In all, 31 people were arrested in Ferrara.
A further 43 were taken into custody in Turin, including several
women who allegedly ran prostitution rackets.
Bologna preliminary investigations judge Gianluca Petragnani
Gelosi said the Vikings' criminal plan was to "violently
annihilate" other Nigerian crime outfits and take over their
turf.
Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said the police guard
against criminal organizations and their illegal trafficking was
high even amid the COVID emergency.
Centre-right opposition leader Matteo Salvini, of the rightist
nationalist Euroskeptic and anti-migrant League party,
congratulated the police and accused the ruling centre-left
Democatic Party of "denying" the problem of the Nigerian mafia.
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