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The entire
council of the city of Reggio Calabria in southern Italy has been sacked to
stop it from being taken over by the mafia, officials say.
The move
came after some councillors were suspected of having ties to the powerful
'Ndrangheta crime syndicate.
Officials
said it was the first time that the entire government of a provincial capital
had been dismissed over suspected mafia links.
Three
commissioners will run the city for 18 months until the next elections.
Mayor
Demetrio Arena and all 30 city councillors were sacked to prevent any
"mafia contagion" in the local government, Interior Minister
Annamaria Cancellieri said.
Smaller
city administrations have been dissolved in the past for similar reasons.
Richest
mafia
For many
months there had been concerns about the influence the 'Ndrangheta might be
exerting over the city council, the BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome reports.
An
investigation was launched after one councillor was arrested last year on a
charge of being associated with the gangsters, he said.
Experts say
the 'Ndrangheta has overtaken the Sicilian Cosa Nostra mafia and become one of
the world's biggest criminal organisations.
Cocaine is
thought to be its biggest source of revenue, along with extortion and money
laundering.
Italy's
parliamentary anti-mafia commission has described the group as the country's
most dangerous - and richest - mafia.
The network
has used the migration of poor Calabrians to northern Italy or abroad to export
its influence.
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