ITALIAN POLICE ARREST NUN OVER LINKS TO MAFIA
(BBC) A nun is among 24 people arrested in northern Italy in connection with a mafia investigation, Italian police have said.
The nun, named in Italian press as Sister Anna Donelli, was arrested for allegedly acting as a go-between for the ‘Ndrangheta mafia and its jailed gang members.
Police also arrested two politicians and seized more than €1.8m (£1.5m) worth of assets in raids across several towns in the Lombardy and Veneto regions, as well as Calabria in the south.
The arrests are a result of a four-year investigation into the ‘Ndrangheta, which is one of Europe’s most influential and dangerous criminal organisations.
Statements released by the coalition of law enforcement agencies behind the sting detail allegations that the nun leveraged her position as a volunteer at the prison.
The Brescia Carabinieri said she was an unsuspecting figure, whose religious role allowed her “free access to the penitentiary facilities”.
Investigators allege the group primarily used scrap metal trade businesses as a front to launder money, totalling approximately €12m in laundered cash, prosecutors said.
In November last year, more than 200 people were sentenced to a total of more than 2,200 years in jail in one of Italy’s biggest mafia trials for generations.
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