Dozens arrested in Germany in European probe of Italian organised crime

The crackdown was part of a coordinated probe by investigators in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain as well as Europol and Eurojust, they said. Among those arrested were four people in Bavaria, 15 in North Rhine-Westphalia, and 10 in the southwestern German state of Rhineland Palatinate, and police seized potential evidence at dozens of locations including homes and offices.

German police arrested dozens of people across the country on Wednesday in an investigation of the Italian Ndrangheta organised crime group, German public prosecutors and state police said. The crackdown was part of a coordinated probe by investigators in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain as well as Europol and Eurojust, they said.

Among those arrested were four people in Bavaria, 15 in North Rhine-Westphalia, and 10 in the southwestern German state of Rhineland Palatinate, and police seized potential evidence at dozens of locations including homes and offices. The suspects are accused of money laundering, criminal tax evasion, fraud and smuggling of drugs, the prosecutor's offices of Duesseldorf, Koblenz, Saarbruecken and Munich said in a joint statement with state police in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland Palatinate and Saarland.