Terra del Fuoco

by John Hooper for The Guardian - December 16, 2008
Almost 100 alleged Cosa Nostra “godfathers” and rank-and-file mobsters were arrested today in an operation that Italy’s chief anti-mafia prosecutor said had smashed an attempt to reconstitute the crime syndicate’s “high command”.
More than 1,200 paramilitary carabinieri took part in the raids, which included operations in the [...]

by Stephen Brown for Reuters News Agency - November 12, 2008
ROME–Italian shopkeepers pay about $380 million a day to mafia protection rackets and loan sharks and fear the current downturn could allow organized crime to further tighten its stranglehold on the vulnerable economy.
The warning came yesterday from the Italian shopkeepers’ association Confesercenti, many of whose [...]

Tags: Italy, mafia, pizzo