Italian police arrested 12 people in the southern region of Campania over charges of criminal association aimed at illegally disposing of waste and corruption, the news agency ANSA reported on Tuesday.

ANSA reported that Italian authorities had unveiled a criminal ring dedicated to the illegal disposal of special waste of industrial origin at the public plant in the town of Tufino on the outskirts of Naples.

According to the agency, authorities believed some 1,000 metric tonnes of special waste were coming from Naples, as well as the cities of Salerno and Benevento and the town of Avellino in Campania.

They were illegally unloaded in the public plant by private companies aided by a criminal ring.

ANSA reported that the investigation lasted about six months.

Illegal waste disposal and other environmental crimes remained a multi-billion-euro business for Mafia groups in Italy.

Data released by Italian environmental organisation Legambiente in March showed that more than 157,000 environmental crimes were registered between 2018 and 2022.

The southern regions of Campania (23,037), Sicily (16,579), Apulia (16,282) and Calabria (13,926) recorded the most crimes across the country. Italy’s major organised crime networks were based in those regions. 

(dpa/NAN)