German police clamp down on Italian mob with raids, arrests

Police arrested suspects and raided homes early on Wednesday across Germany in a massive effort to clamp down on member of the Italian 'ndrangheta organised crime syndicate.

More than 1,000 officers searched dozens of homes, offices, stores in the states of Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, prosecutors said in a joint statement.

Over 30 suspects who had outstanding warrants were arrested.

''Among other things, the accused are accused of money laundering, gang tax evasion, commercial gang fraud, and narcotics smuggling,'' said a statement from the state office of criminal investigation in North Rhine-Westphalia. The raids are part of a wider joint investigation involving Europol and also included simultaneous measures against the group in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, the statement said.(AP) RUP