Italian police arrested on Friday one of the most well-known ‘Ndrangheta bosses in an isolated hut in a village in southern Calabria. Giuseppe Pelle has been wanted since 2016 when he received a 2.5-year prison sentence for attempted extortion and being associated to organized crime.

In the heart of Calabrian mafia country, a farmer cooperative was damaged for the fourth time in the past year, reported il Fatto Quotidiano on Wednesday. But the farmers say they will bow down to no one - not even the ‘Ndrangheta.

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was indicted in Milan on Monday of allegedly paying witnesses to lie in front of judges during his sex-for-hire trial, according to the Associated Press.

A corruption trial of Royal Dutch Shell and Eni executives that was to start on Monday was postponed by the court in Milan until May 14, according to Reuters.

By Cecilia Anesi

Italian authorities detained a member of the Camorra crime syndicate who landed in Rome on Wednesday after having been expelled from Mexico where he lived for more than a decade under a false name.

In the largest operation of the last 23 years against the 'Ndrangheta, authorities in Italy and Germany have since Monday evening arrested 170 people affiliated with the criminal organization’s Farao-Marincola clan of the Calabrian Crotone area.

She was called the “Mistress”.

Police in Palermo, Sicily, arrested on Tuesday 27 members of a Cosa Nostra clan suspected of extortion, drug trafficking and illegal gambling. The years-long investigation that led to the arrests gave authorities a deeper understanding of the clan’s hierarchy and election system.

It’s hard for anyone to leave Italy’s secretive, clannish ‘Ndrangheta crime families. For women, doubly so.

Dockworkers in Abidjan’s port, Ivory Coast. (Photo: Romain Seaf)

The cocaine would leave the Dominican Republic hidden among the in-flight meals on passenger planes flying from the La Romana airport of Santo Domingo to the Milan Malpensa airport in Italy.

Italian police announced on Wednesday that they have seized 11 million euros (US$ 13 million) in assets and arrested 37 people, including two Italian Carabinieri officers, who were allegedly involved in mafia-type extortion related to fruit, fish and drugs.

Italian police put seven university professors under house arrest and banned another 22 from academic roles for the next year for alleged exam rigging, the Business Standard reported on Tuesday.

Italian police arrested on Tuesday the mayor of a city near Milan, accusing him of corruption, which authorities revealed during a wide-ranging investigation into the ‘Ndrangheta’s ramifications in Northern Italy.

Egyptian authorities detained a human rights lawyer who was involved in the investigation of the murder of an Italian student, presumed to have been murdered by the Egyptian government, theAssociated Press reported on Thursday.

Italian police announced on Wednesday that they have recovered more than 100 works of religious art worth € 7 million (US$ 8.4 million) snatched from churches and religious institutions in central and southern Italy.

Rocco Morabito, 51, was one of those ‘Ndrangheta members who were good enough in trafficking cocaine from Latin America to Europe without being caught for decades.

Dressed in shorts and acting as tourists, agents kept their eyes peeled on the villa in the village of Thiene, near Vicenza, for a whole week, carefully following the moves of the woman who was taking care of the old lady living there.

An armed group, allegedly led by a "former mafia boss," is preventing migrant boats from leaving Libya for Italy, media reported Monday.

Italian police are investigating an alleged partnership between the local mafia and the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in smuggling crude oil from the Middle East and north Africa into Europe, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

A Rome court sent 41 people to jailon Thursday for corruption, extortion and bid rigging, but dismissed claims by prosecutors that the gang was amafia organization.