Italian police said officers entered a clinic disguised as doctors and arrested the suspected head of a mafia clan linked to the murder of six men in Germany.

Francesco Pelle is believed to head the Pelle-Vottari clan of the 'Ndrangheta, the mafia from San Luca in Calabria which has become Italy's most powerful crime syndicate, dominating Europe's illegal drugs trade.

He was arrested late yesterday after having surgery in a private clinic in Pavia, northern Italy, to try to recover the use of his legs after an attack which left him unable to walk.

The police dressed up as doctors out of fear Pelle would resist arrest, but he turned out to be unarmed.

He is suspected of ordering the murder of a rival clan leader's wife at Christmas 2006 in revenge for the attack on him.

A feud that began in 1991 over an egg-throwing incident during carnival has grown into a drugs turf war.

The murder triggered a bloody escalation in rivalry that police believe led to the shooting of six Italian men outside a pizzeria in Duisburg, Germany, in August 2007.

The six were linked to the Pelle-Vottari clan and about 30 people have since been arrested in connection with the attack.