Italy’s most powerful mafia is now down by 61 people, after police in the European nation conducted a series of raids that netted more than five dozen suspected members of the ‘Ndrangheta crime cartel.

Their activities include fraud, drug trafficking, infiltrating government and extorting local farmers, according to BBC News.

More than 500 police officers took part in the seven-region operation. Dozens of the 167 people it was aimed at, including corrupt officials, are already in prison. The raids were part of ongoing efforts to dismantle the organization.

Last week, authorities scooped up more than 100 people across Europe in its biggest sting yet against the ‘Ndrangheta, seizing nearly $25 million U.S. in assets in 10 countries.

‘Ndrangheta and its criminal network of 150 families is now more powerful than the notorious Cosa Nostra and operates in 40 countries, experts say.

Earlier this month, 31 people associated with the ‘Ndrangheta were arrested and charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and “systematic” tax evasion on the part of Italian pizzerias and restaurants in Germany, authorities from both countries said.

According to Italy’s leading anti-mafia prosecutor, Federico Cafiero De Raho, the Calabria-based ‘Ndrangheta is deeply embedded in legitimate economies, funneling cocaine proceeds into tourist restaurants, car sales and food import-and-export businesses.

In Wednesday’s arrests in Italy, Italian and Belgian investigators said the ‘Ndrangheta smuggled nearly 25,000 kilograms, or more than 55,000 pounds, of cocaine between October 2019 and January 2022. They also allegedly filtered more than $21 million from Calabria to Belgium, the Netherlands and South America, BBC News reported.

Police in Italy have been cracking down on organized crime and made numerous arrests in recent months.

In January, authorities finally caught up with Italy’s most-wanted mafia fugitive, Matteo Messina Denaro, after 30 years as he was exiting a cancer-treatment clinic. In February, fugitive Edgardo Greco, 63, was nabbed in Saint-Etienne, France, near Lyon, where he was working as a pizza chef.

With News Wire Services