Italian police on Wednesday served
25 arrest warrants in a drug-trafficking probe in Bari, sources
said.
The warrants were served on leading figure and soldiers in
the Mercante and Strisciuglio clans active in various districts
in the southern Italian city.
Charges against those arrested include conspiracy to traffic
and distribute narcotics, aggravated by the use of weapons, and
two attempted homicides, aggravated by mafia methods, on the
part of the two rival clans.
The Puglia mafia, the Sacra Corona Unita (United Holy Crown,
SCU), is the fourth and smallest of Italy's four mafias.
It has dwindled to a fraction of its former strength thanks
to waves of police action.
The other three mafias are 'Ndrangheta from Calabria, Cosa
Nostra from Sicily and the Camorra from Naples.
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