Those arrested in the major operation, involving 1,200 carabinieri, are accused of mafia-type criminal association, attempted murder, aggravated extortion with mafia methods, drug trafficking, use and possession of weapons,

In the early 1990s crusading anti-mafia prosecutors were murdered as they tried to hit back. Then in 1993 the so-called boss of bosses, Salvatore "Toto" Riina, was arrested in Palermo, and in 2023 notorious mobster Matteo Messina Denaro was detained as he visited a local clinic.

The Sicilian Mafia, the inspiration for the "Godfather" movies, is no longer the force it once was, subject to years of crackdowns by authorities and overtaken in terms of power and wealth by Calabria's 'Ndrangheta.

Police on Tuesday staged a huge operation to arrest 181 suspected Cosa Nostra members in relation to a probe by investigators in Palermo into the Mafia syndicate's attempt to rebuild in the area of the Sicilian capital after a series of clampdowns over recent years landed thousands of people in jail.