Police in Italy said on Friday they had detained dozens of people in morning raids targeting the Calabrian version of the mafia, the 'Ndrangheta.
Prosecutors issued 63 arrest warrants, of which 58 were carried out successfully by the police.
The arrests took place in Cosenza, a southern city in Calabria - the 'Ndrangheta's heartland - and in the central and northern regions of Lazio and Lombardy, Ferace said.
Those detained face charges including murder, extortion and belonging to mafia-like associations.
In the sweep, authorities also seized some 15 million euro (20 million dollars) worth of assets believed to belong to several prominent 'Ndrangheta crime families.
Less known abroad than Sicily's Cosa Nostra and the Neapolitan Camorra, the 'Ndrangheta is based in the toe of Italy's boot.
The 'Ndrangheta made international headlines in 2007, when in a gangland shooting between feuding clans, six Italians were killed as they left a restaurant in the western German city of Duisburg. - Sapa-dpa