Three of the 13 people arrested in Belgium as part of the vast police operation against the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta mafia, will be handed over to Italy, the federal prosecutor’s office confirmed.
The operation took place in nine countries. It involved 150 officers in Belgium, more than 1,000 in Germany and over 1,400 police and military personnel in Italy. According to the European police agency, Europol, and the EU agency for criminal justice, Eurojust, 132 arrests were made.
The federal and Limburg prosecutors’ offices said on Wednesday that 13 people had been arrested in Belgium. Judicial sources confirmed that one of the suspects is Lucio Aquino, a member of a Limburg family who has already had several run-ins with the law for drug-related offences.
Three of the arrested suspects will be extradited to Italy. For the other suspects, the federal prosecutor’s office has not yet given any information.
The ‘Ndrangheta, which has its roots in Calabria, southern Italy, is one of the most powerful criminal organisations in Europe.
