Italian Police Arrest 13 People Related To Chinese Mafia Group

Illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Tony Webster)

JAKARTA - Italian police on Monday announced the arrest of 13 people in a national raid on Chinese mafia groups on charges of involvement in crimes such as drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and heavy robbery.

The raids were carried out in 25 provinces, including Milan, Rome, Florence, Prato and Catania, police anti-organized crimes official Andrea Olivage said.

Police reported 31 other people to the justice authorities without arresting them, and confiscated 550 grams (1.2 pounds) or about 5,500 doses of crystal methamphetamine "shabu", as well as examining hundreds of shops and vehicles.

These gang crime tend to exclusively target fellow Chinese citizens, and, like traditional mafias, they "use intimidation and/or violence to achieve their goals" and try to dominate the area they operate in, police said.

The Chinese mafia group operates "with a strong-rooted revenge concept that could be in the form of a feud," they added.

In April, a senior figure in China's underground world and a colleague were shot dead in Rome, in what police suspect was part of the struggle for territory within China's criminal network in Italy.

The Chinese gangs used the hawala informal payment system to transfer money, and "continuous dialogue" with other criminal organizations in Italy to share business and influence zones, police said.

Gang members tend to come from the same area in China and have a stronger foothold in some parts of Italy with more Chinese population, such as Tuscany, police noted.

Prato, a city in Tuscany known for its textile industry and the Chinese community, has had problems with long-running labor exploitation, especially among illegal immigrants.

The arrests announced on Monday follow a separate investigation that uncovered alleged abuse of workers among Italian workshops but are owned by China in the supply chain of luxury brands.