Spain arrests 32 suspected members of Italy’s Camorra crime organisation

Spanish police have arrested 32 suspected members of Italy’s Camorra crime group they say were involved in drug trafficking, extortion, fraud and money laundering, the interior ministry said yesterday.

In raids on 14 homes and businesses across Madrid, police seized €1.13 million in cash, properties worth about €8 million and firearms.

Police did not specify the nationality of those arrested, suspected of supplying drugs to their partners in Naples, home of the Camorra, one Italy’s biggest mafia groups.

There were also four arrests in Italy, said the ministry. There was no immediate word from Italian authorities.

The swoop was the culmination of a cross-border investigation launched in November, 2011 into criminals operating in and around the Spanish capital with connections to Italy, the Netherlands, France and Colombia, said the ministry.

Since the operation began, 2,800kg of cocaine has been confiscated. The investigation, which Spain said included co-operation with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, is ongoing.

Italy’s three main mafia groups, the Camorra, Cosa Nostra and Ndrangheta, have a joint annual turnover of €116 billion, according to UN figures.