Italian police said they have arrested 19 suspected members of a Nigerian mob, including the leaders of a clan, called MAPHITE, which forged alliances with other mafias and violently punished anyone who rebelled.
In an operation dubbed “Burning Flame”, coordinated by police in Bologna and Turin, over 300 officers carried out arrests and searches in nine cities across northern Italy from Bergamo to Modena, Parma, and Ravenna.
A two-year probe, aided significantly by a man on the inside who fed details to investigators allowed them to destroy much of what, within the Nigerian community, is known as the ‘MAPHITE’ cult.
Among those arrested were those who held a leading role within the criminal organization.
