ROME, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Italian authorities launched a large-scale anti-mafia operation at dawn on Wednesday, targeting 181 alleged members of the notorious Sicilian crime syndicate, Cosa Nostra.

The raid, conducted after a two-year-long investigation, mobilized over 1,200 police officers in Palermo, Sicily's regional capital, and in cities across the country.

According to Italy's Carabinieri military police, those arrested face a range of serious charges, including mafia association, drug trafficking, attempted murder, and extortion. Additionally, arrest warrants were issued for 33 other suspects already serving prison sentences for unrelated crimes.

Ordered by prosecutors from the Anti-Mafia District Directorate, the operation focused on dismantling Palermo-based clans that had allegedly joined forces in an attempt to rebuild their criminal network following a series of severe crackdowns by the state since the late 1990s.

Authorities noted that while the Sicilian mafia remains tied to traditional rules, it has adapted to modern technology to evade law enforcement. The investigation revealed that drug trafficking operations and communications between imprisoned bosses and their associates were conducted through encrypted mobile phones.

"Technological evolution affects not only citizens but also mafia organizations," said Palermo's chief prosecutor, Maurizio De Lucia. "These are wealthy criminal enterprises with the resources to acquire expertise and tools that allow them to circumvent police investigations."

Once the most powerful of Italy's three traditional mafia organizations, Cosa Nostra terrorized the country with hundreds of murders and attacks from the late 1970s onward. The syndicate's reign of violence peaked in 1992 with the assassinations of two top anti-mafia judges, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, who were killed in massive bomb attacks in May and July of that year. In response to this violent escalation, Italian authorities launched an aggressive crackdown, leading to the arrest or death of all key Cosa Nostra bosses. Enditem

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