Italian police have seized 17 resorts on the southern coast as they're believed to be connected to organized crime.
Twenty people were arrested and $590 million in assets were seized in a crackdown as crime groups are suspected of laundering money through the tourist industry, according to the BBC.
The raids were the result of investigations that began in 2008. The 'Ndrangheta crime network, based in southern Calabria, and their involvement in tourism are the center focus of this raid. It is believed that these clans invested illicit revenue in the resorts that were seized. There is also suspicion of mafia activity.
According to authorities, two Spanish businessmen were also arrested in the raid. They also found that a developer in Belfast, Ireland was also involved in the laundering scheme, but it is not clear if this developer was arrested.
Police said that their investigation showed "an extensive and complex network of Italian and foreign companies" which allowed several crime gangs to own and become involved in the development of several real estate properties and tourist resorts.
Many of the resorts that were seized are located in coastal areas of the Calabria region and they're known for their beauty.
The resorts allegedly forged links between 'Ndrangheta families and "important Spanish entrepreneurs," police said, according to the BBC.
The 'Ndrangheta means "virtue" in a dialect of ancient Greek. The used to made money through kidnappings and extortion, but they expanded into drugs and property to make profits which are invested in northern Europe.
The investigation was led by anti-Mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri who noted that the crime group turned into an extensive business network in which they reinvest their profits.
"This is a new 'Ndrangheta entrepreneurship, a new way of 'doing Mafia' where there is no shooting or killing, but where affiliation derives only from one matrix: money," the finance police statement said according to the Daily Mail.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
