Italian police on Thursday arrested 22 people suspected of being part of the Puglian mafia organization operating in the region of Salento in southern Italy
The suspects, supposedly members of clan Giannelli, an arm of the Sacra Corona Unita, or Puglian mafia, are accused of criminal association, collusion with the mafia, drug trafficking, extortion, illegal possession of arms, corruption and other offenses
The operation stems from a prosecutor’s probe targeting clan Giannelli of the Sacra Corona Unita in Puglia, which is bossed by jailed for life mafioso Luigi Giannelli
Investigators in the probe documented the dynamics of the internal reorganization of the clan, which included the emergence of the boss’s son, Marco Antonio Giannelli, to the powerful position of acting boss
Under the new boss, the organization dominated the drug rackets and extorted entrepreneurs, and established relationships with a mayor and other public officials and influenced their activity ‘in return for electoral support
