Italy.
The information provided by a grandmother, hoping to save her grandson from drugs, helped police dismantle a network of drug traffickers in Calabria, southern Italy, authorities said on Wednesday.
Eighteen people accused of drug trafficking and linked to the Calabrian mafia clan Muto were arrested during the operation.
The so-called “Muto clan” is one of the many families that are part of the ‘Ndrangheta, The dreaded Calabrian mafia, considered one of the most powerful in the world and the main activity is cocaine trafficking.
“The grandmother spoke to the carabinieri to ask them to save her grandson,” Colonel Piero Sutera, commander of the Corps of Corps, told reporters. carabinieri of Cosenza, In Calabria.
The criminal group was also involved in extortion of entrepreneurs operating in the tourism sector.
“Many people were suffering from the arrogance of these criminals who demanded money” with threats, said the anti-mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, Quoted by the newspaper Gazeta del Sud.
Gratteri, prosecutor of the imposing ongoing trial against the ‘Ndrangheta with more than 300 defendants, he pointed out that part of the money from the extortions is used to keep clan members who are in prison and their families.