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Cafe de Paris Mafia Links: Police Seize 'La Dolce Vita' Cafe

by alia_d | July 22, 2009 at 03:18 pm

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The Cafe de Paris, a famous bar in Rome, was seized by the Italian anti-mafia police because the owners of Cafe de Paris belong to the 'Ndrangheta mafia, the most powerful mafia group in Italy.

In total, the Italian anti-mafia police seized 200 million euros ($284 million) worth of assets, including the Cafe de Paris, that belonged to the 'Ndrangheta mafia from southern Italy.

According to anti-mafia police records, the Cafe de Paris was bought by a hairdresser from Calabria, the region where the 'Ndrangheta mafia are from, in 2005.

The Cafe de Paris is also known as 'La Dolce Vita' Cafe because the Cafe de Paris was immortalized in the 1960 move by Federico Fellini named 'La Dolce Vita', or 'The Sweet Life.' It is located in Via Veneto, one of the most expensive areas in Rome, and associated with a glitzy, fashionable nightlife.

The country's anti-mafia prosecutor said the seizures and arrests were just "the tip of the iceberg".

[...]

This was the second major police swoop this week against the notorious group, which authorities say has an annual turnover of over 30bn euros, equivalent to three per cent of Italy's gross national product.