In an attempt by the Italian government to break up a big Mafia clan, state officials confiscated assets worth around £199 million, including sporting goods empire Sport&More and the London based online betting site Paradise Bet, land and race horses. 83 Arrest warrants where issued.

Police officials said that as part of a 3 year operation named Domino, local politicians and businessmen in the city of Bary are among the people who collaborated with the Parisi clan. The police say that not all the members of the clan are arrested, but the 48-year-old leader of the clan, Savino Parisi was arrested together with his closest associates. Among the accusations are attempted homicide, drug trafficking, loan-sharking, interfering with the bidding process for public contracts and money laundering. Piero Grasso, anti-Mafia prosecutor for Italy said: “The operation showed the true face of criminality in the southern region. It’s a criminality that is projected in investments, in businesses that suck part of the resources of this land and invests it abroad.” The police said in a statement: “With his associates, he acquired full control of the territory and accumulated enormous wealth through crimes of every genre: from stealing trucks to kidnapping and loan-sharking with interest rates up to 300 per cent.” It also said that the former deputy mayor and the city assessor of Velanzano also cooperated wit the clan. The most noticeable is his effort to build a £27.3 million university for 3.500 students, in order to launder money. The Parisi clan even got a businessman in the council to better control the area. The arrests came as the Italian government cracks down on organised crime in Italy.