Italian police arrest 32 after German mafia deaths

By Antonino Condorelli

SAN LUCA, Italy (Reuters) - Police arrested 32 suspected mafiosi on Thursday and were hunting for eight others linked to a deadly mob feud blamed for the execution-style killings of six Italians in Germany.

Camouflage-clad police backed by helicopters swooped into the southern Italian mountain village of San Luca, the epicenter of a 16-year-old feud inside the Calabrian underworld organization, the 'Ndrangheta, that has killed up to 20 people.

The latest six victims died in a hail of bullets on August 15 outside a pizzeria run by Calabrians in Duisburg, northwest Germany, where the 'Ndrangheta is believed to be well established.

Among the arrested was Giovanni Nirta, suspected head of a mob clan whose wife was shot dead last Christmas. Prior to his arrest, he strongly denied suggestions he ever sought revenge.

Achille Marmo and Giovanni Strangio, brothers of two of the Duisburg victims, were also among those arrested in and around San Luca. Strangio was a co-owner of the pizzeria where the men were killed, police said.

"The families that are fighting in Calabria are the same ones who fought in Germany," police colonel Antonio Fiano told Reuters.

But police refused to directly link the suspects to the murders themselves -- saying their investigation was into the larger mob feud that they believe led to the killings.

The suspects face charges including mob association, murder and arms trafficking.