The Latest: Police arrest about 90 in raids on Italian mafia

Police say they have arrested about 90 suspected mafia members in a series of coordinated raids in four European countries.

The arrests in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium came as part of an investigation codenamed Pollino that was launched in 2016 against the ’ndrangheta criminal group on allegations of cocaine trafficking, money laundering, bribery and violence, said Eurojust, the European agency that fights cross-border organized crime, which coordinated the operation.

Dutch chief public prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said Wednesday dozens of raids also netted about 2 million euros in criminal proceeds as well as drugs including ecstasy and cocaine.

Authorities are conducting coordinated raids in Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands in a crackdown on the Italian mafia.

German federal police said in a statement Wednesday that there had been multiple arrests in the early morning raids on premises linked to the ’ndrangheta, a southern Italy-based organized crime group.

In Germany the focus was on the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which borders the Netherlands and Belgium, and Bavaria to the south.

Police say the operation is being coordinated by Eurojust, a European unit established to fight cross-border organized crime

Further details were not immediately available but a news conference was scheduled for later in the day in The Hague.