Italian anti-mafia prosecutor says mafias now cooperating

MILAN – Italy's new national anti-mafia and anti-terrorism prosecutor says that Italian organized crime gangs are cooperating to control international drug trafficking.

Prosecutor Federico Cafiero De Raho told an anti-mafia conference in Milan on Thursday that the Italian mafia's "are not isolated. By now, they move together. The 'ndrangheta, Cosa Nostra, Cammora, also the groups from Puglia" work together, coordinating, for example, ports they use for heroin and cocaine shipments.

Cafiero De Raho urged Italian law enforcement and magistrates to cooperate on exchanging data and other information, saying it was "the first step in the strategy" to defeat organized crime.

Italy's justice minister, Andrea Orlando, said the mafia "is a blemish on our competitiveness," and said organized crime must be combatted throughout the country - not just in the south.