Italy arrests 150 people in large-scale raid on Sicilian Mafia

Italian police arrest 150 in major Sicilian Mafia crackdown, revealing ongoing grip on Palermo despite decline in power.

Italian police arrested almost 150 people Tuesday (February 11, 2025) in a major operation against the Sicilian Mafia in Palermo, areas of which remain in the grip of powerful Cosa Nostra clans.

Warrants were issued against a total of 183 people, 36 of whom were already in custody, for crimes including mafia-type criminal association, attempted murder, extortion, drug trafficking and illegal gambling, police said.

More than 1,200 officers were involved in dawn raids, in what media reports said was the biggest operation against the Cosa Nostra since 1984.

The Sicilian Mafia, the inspiration for the “Godfather” movies, is no longer the force it once was, subject to years of crackdowns by authorities and overtaken in terms of power and wealth by Calabria’s ‘Ndrangheta.

But Palermo police said their two-year probe had revealed how it “continues to maintain its grip”, these days coordinated by messages on encrypted smartphones.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hailed the operation, which she said “confirms the state’s constant commitment to the fight against organised crime”.

Tuesday’s (February 11, 2025) operation was aimed at dismantling Mafia clans in several districts of the Sicilian capital Palermo and its surrounding areas, after an investigation that provides an insight into how they operate.