Naples, Italy - The suspected boss of a powerful Camorra mafia clan has been arrested in the southern Naples area, Italian police announced on Tuesday.
Nicola Schiavone, 32, is thought to have replaced his father, Francesco, who is serving a life term in a high-security prison for several murders as well as extorsion and drug trafficking as head of the Camorra's Casalesi clan.
He is suspected of ordering the killings of three associates who were thought to be working secretly for another clan led by Francesco Bidognetti.
Schiavone did not resist arrest at his luxury villa in Casal di Principe north of Naples, the Sky TG24 news channel said, adding that like his father he was an avid painter and had a studio at the villa.
The father, nicknamed "Sandokan," was a central figure in the best-selling expose on the Camorra, "Gomorra" by Roberto Saviano.
Schiavone's arrest "inflicts a hard setback, including psychologically, to the Casalesi clan and the entire Camorra organisation," Italian Justice Minister Angelino Alfano said in a satatement.
Schiavone had been on the run since June 2009, a month after the discovery of the bodies of the three "deserters," police said. - Sapa-AFP