Europe, Mobsters | featured news

The housing commissioner of Milan's regional government was arrested Wednesday on accusations he paid €200,000 ($260,000) to mobsters in exchange for an election victory — the latest in a series of scandals involving Italian public officials accused of abusing their power or profiting from their jobs.

Anti-mafia prosecutors claimed a major victory over the powerful and growing 'ndrangheta crime syndicate, infiltrating intimate weddings, baptisms and other events to gather information that led to the arrests Tuesday of 305 people, including top bosses, and the seizure of more than euro60 million ($76 million) in cash and property.