Italian police raided 80 premises, arrested 68 suspects and seized assets worth about 1 billion euros (1.13 billion U.S. dollars) in Italy and abroad, the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Office said in a statement Wednesday.
The suspects were described by the statement as "leading organized crime figures, businessmen, and front men". Charges against them include mafia racketeering, money laundering, and tax evasion in connection with an illegal betting ring worth 4.5 billion euros.
"The lucrative earnings...were reinvested in real estate and in financial positions abroad," according to the statement.
The assets are being seized in cooperation with some foreign governments, including that of Switzerland, the Netherlands and Britain.
"If we don't beat the mafia, Italy's economy won't take off," National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Federico Cafiero De Raho told reporters at a televised press conference.
