Eight mobsters a day

In mid-August, interior minister Roberto Maroni held a press conference during which he announced the status of the government’s fight against organized crime. ‘Very important results,’ Maroni said, were effected in both mafia-related arrests and seizures of mafia assets. From May 2008 to July 2010, law enforcement officials apprehended 6,433 mobsters, a rate of about eight a day. In the same period, officials seized 32,799 mafia-owned assets valued at 15 billion euro.