A criminal organization involved in extortion, usury, conducting of illegal gambling operations and drug trafficking has been broken up in Salento, Apulia. As part of the operation, police arrested 17 people and another 3 are still being sought. Those arrested are charged with usury and extortion, Mafia-type criminal association, possession of illegal arms, trafficking of cocaine and hashish, and aiding and abetting a wanted fugitive – a member of a vicious clan of the Sacra Corona Unita, a Mafia-like criminal association. Certain assets were also impounded.