200 police officers

Around 150 people were arrested on Tuesday in a huge sting operation against the mafia in Sicily’s capital of Palermo, according to local police.

More than 1,200 officers took part in the dawn raids targeting the Cosa Nostra criminal organisation, an action that Italian media said was the biggest such crackdown on the mob in four decades.

A total of 183 arrest warrants were issued against the mob’s members, although 36 of the suspects were already in custody, according to a statement by Carabinieri.

The suspects apprehended on Tuesday were charged with various offences ranging from extortion and mafia association to drug trafficking and attempted murder

Having once ruled with almost absolute power in Sicily, Cosa Nostra’s grip has slipped in the past 25 years or so. The arrest of many of its leaders, greater vigilance among local officials and an increase in the number of residents willing to defy the mafia has deprived organised crime of the dominance it once enjoyed on the Mediterranean island.

The Carabinieri’s statement said that Cosa Nostra had modernised and adopted new tactics to avoid detection by the authorities.

“The bosses of Cosa Nostra tend to resolve disputes that arise peacefully, trying to keep a constantly low profile in an attempt not to attract the attention of the police,” it said

For example, encrypted mobile phones are being smuggled into prisons to allow jailed mafia members to continue their illicit activities from behind bars, while traditional face-to-face meetings have been eschewed in favour of digital communication, police said.

This allowed one local mob boss to stay in hiding for about two years while continuing to oversee criminal activity in his district, according to the Carabinieri

Although Cosa Nostra has been weakened, it continues to attract young people. Police described how one new recruit was given “mafia lessons” by an older associate, including how to behave with people subject to extortion and how to interact with mob bosses.

Drug trafficking is the most profitable criminal activity for Cosa Nostra. The group has links with the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta — which has overtaken it as Europe’s most powerful organised crime group — to supply large quantities of narcotics, the Carabinieri said

Writing on X later on Tuesday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the arrests were “a very hard blow to Cosa Nostra” and that “organised crime is in trouble”.

“The fight against the mafia has not stopped and will not stop,” she wrote.