"Vinny Slick" and "Fifi" among 16 accused mafia associates arrested in U.S.-Italy takedown

Sixteen alleged members of the Gambino crime family have been arrested in the U.S. and Italy in a racketeering case in which the defendants are accused of a series of crimes — including assault, arson and extortion — as a means to "dominate the New York carting and demolition industries," the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

An indictment was unsealed in New York on Wednesday charging 10 people with racketeering conspiracy, extortion, witness retaliation and "union-related crimes," federal prosecutors announced. Six alleged organized crime members and associates were also busted in Italy on Wednesday as part of the operation targeting alleged Gambino members and associates. One individual in Italy remains at large.

Federal prosecutors accused one alleged Gambino mafia family associate, Francesco Vicari, also known as Uncle Ciccio, of holding a man at knifepoint and directing him to threaten to cut his son-in-law in half as a threat to get him to make extortion payments, the Justice Department said.