Italy police nab mobster linked to German killings

REGGIO CALABRIA, Italy (Reuters) - Italian police on Thursday arrested the head of a Calabrian mafia clan whose feud with rivals has killed about 20 people, including six Italians gunned down outside a pizzeria in Germany a year ago.

About 100 police with helicopters launched a dawn raid on the small southern town of San Luca, home to rival clans of the 'Ndrangheta, which has overtaken Sicily's Cosa Nostra to become the most powerful Italian crime syndicate.

Police smashed down the door of an old house to find Paolo Nirta, the 31-year-old acting head of the Nirta-Strangio clan, trying to escape via the balcony. They said he was not armed.

The six men slain in the German town of Duisburg last August were all linked to the Pelle-Vottari clan, sworn enemies of the Nirta-Strangios. About 30 people have been arrested since the German attack.

Locals say the San Luca feud started with an egg-throwing incident at carnival in 1991 and escalated after Paolo Nirta's sister-in-law Maria was shot dead on Christmas Day 2006 -- a murder which broke the 'Ndrangheta's code of "honor".

Investigators see the feud as a fight for control of the drug market. The 'Ndrangheta control the cocaine trade in Europe and make an estimated 44 billion euros ($68 billion) a year from their rackets -- equivalent to 3 percent of Italy's economy.

Police say Paolo Nirta became acting head of the clan when his father and brother were arrested after the Duisberg attack. Police suspect his fugitive brother-in-law, Giovanni Strangio, of direct involvement in the German killings.

(Writing by Stephen Brown, editing by Tim Pearce)