Politicians, businessmen held in Mafia swoop

More than 50 people, including a national parliamentarian and regional politicians, were ordered detained yesterday as part of a vast police operation against a Mafia clan in the impoverished southern region of Basilicata.

Gianfranco Blasi, a lawmaker for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (Go Italy!) party was among those whose arrest was ordered by a local magistrate, police said.

Mr Blasi denied any wrongdoing and said the investigation had "all the hallmarks of a political persecution".

Investigators suspect the group, which also includes national businessmen, of Mafia links, money laundering and extortion. They suspect politicians influenced the awarding of public works contracts to Mafia companies in exchange for mobilising votes. Investigators said there was what one called "widespread and methodical collusion" between a local Mafia clan, politicians and businessmen.

The clan is suspected of links to both the 'Ndrangheta, based in the neighbouring Calabria region and which has surpassed Sicily's Cosa Nostra as the most powerful criminal organisation, and the Naples-based Camorra.

The judge in Basilicata's regional capital of Potenza ordered 42 jail detentions and 10 house arrests.

Another 20 people were under investigation, including some politicians from both left and right.

Basilicata is one of Italy's poorest regions and along with much of the south has been dominated by Mafia organisations.