OREANDA-NEWS. A major international special operation against the mafia group «Ndrangheta» took place on Wednesday, May 5, in Italy, Germany, Romania and Spain. According to European media, the police raids were aimed at combating drug trafficking.

According to the Italian prosecutor's office, the guards seized millions of euros during the searches. The special operation was led by the Prosecutor's Office in Turin, and involved several hundred police officers in four countries. No other details have been provided yet.

The Calabrian mafia syndicate «Ndrangheta» was founded in 1897. It operates not only in Italy and is considered one of the most influential in the world, with about 10 thousand members in it's ranks. One of the features that is considered difficult to fight against the «Ndrangheta» is decentralization.

Unlike the Sicilian «Cosa Nostra», the «Ndrangheta» has a less rigid hierarchy system, and the heads of it's small mafia «families» have considerable autonomy in decision-making. As a result, even in the event of the arrest of some of the leaders, the «Ndrangheta» is still able to continue to function.