Police on Thursday arrested 14 people in an operation which uncovered close ties between local Cosa Nostra families and the Mafia in the United States.
The 14 included local bosses, businessmen, extortionists and municipal employees.
Most of those arrested face charges of criminal conspiracy, extortion and public contract rigging.
Wiretap evidence showed clear links between some local families, especially in the nearby town of Torretta, and the Mob in America.
According to investigators, the trans-Atlantic alliance involved drug trafficking and money laundering.
Thanks to the taped evidence, investigators were able to identify a certain 'u' Frankie' as Frankie Cali', a well-known member of the New York Gambino family.
Cali is also related to the Sicilian Inzerillo family, which was forced to flee the island in the 1980s after losing the power struggle with the bloody Corleone gang of Salvatore (Toto') Riina and Bernarado Provenzano, both of whom are now behind bars.
According to Mafia experts, the involvement of the Izerillo confirmed their theory that efforts were under way to bring back members of the Inzerillo family to fill the void left by arrests last year of Provenzano and many of his lieutenants.
Riina was arrested in January 1993.
The Cosa Nostra family in Torretta, in fact, has strong ties with fugitive Salvatore Lo Piccolo, the boss who has taken over from Provenzano in the Sicilian capital.
Lo Piccolo, who wiretap evidence showed narrowly escaped arrest three times in the past year, is said to be the architect behind the effort to bring the Inzerillo family home.
