Rome, April 16 (IANS/AKI): Police in the Sicilian capital Palermo have impounded assets worth over 4.7 million euros (around $6 million) from a transport company with suspected links with the mafia.
The assets included villas and apartments, shops, land and cars, as well as over 32 million euros of financial assets belonging to the brothers Filippo, Giuseppe and Benedetto Graziano.
The company had affiliates in the area around the western Sicilian port city of Trapani, which had links to 52-year-old jailed mafia member Cesare Carmelo.
The operation followed an investigation that began in 2011 to which a mafia turncoat, Fabio Tranchina, and petrol pump operators, bar and betting shop owners provided information.
The Palermo transport firm, which operated 21 trucks, was registered in the name of an individual who had no prior criminal convictions.