Reggio Calabria (Italy), Sep 4 (IANS/AKI): A former mayor was among seven Calabrian mafia suspects arrested in southern Italy Wednesday in an operation involving police from Reggio Calabria and Rome.
The suspects have links to Ndrangheta's Alvaro clan (Calabrian mafia), according to anti-mafia investigators.
The suspects include Rocco Palermo, an ex-mayor of San Procopio town, two businessmen and a shop owner. All of them face charges of mafia association and fraud.
The Alvaro clan has a complete monopoly over public works contracts thanks to a network of "friendly" local government administrators and businessmen and its leadership's infiltration of various economic sectors, investigators said.
Palermo is alleged to be a top aide of 'Ndrangheta member Cosimo Alvaro, son of the Alvaro clan boss Cosimo Alvaro.