The mayor of Rome said Friday he had been offered police protection after an anti-Mafia sweep in the Italian capital landed top politicians and a notorious mobster in handcuffs.
Ignazio Marino said he was told he could not use his bicycle any more "because I am angering very dangerous organisations", and admitted he was worried by the news of threats made against him.
Police arrested 37 people on Tuesday and named 100 people -- including Marino's predecessor Gianni Alemanno -- as being under investigation in a probe into a criminal network which fed off dirty deals between businessmen and local politicians.
Among those arrested was mastermind Massimo Carminati, once member of the Magliana gang which terrorised Rome in the 1970s and 1980s, who has been dubbed "last king of Rome" by his fellow criminals.
Wire tapped conversations collected by police during their investigation into the network revealed Carminati's men had attempted to buy Marino's cooperation and failed, leading to questions as to how to take the Rome mayor out of play.
"Yours truly was and is a problem (for the criminals). They tried to stop me winning the elections by any means, and after the election they tried to get close to me somehow," Marino said.
"They said 'we have to bring him down, we have to get rid of him,' though they said it in a more violent fashion," he told the foreign press.
Police raids led to the confiscation of 200 million euros ($245 million) worth of goods and property.
Investigators believe that as well as rigging contracts given out by municipal authorities, the Mafia network also skimmed off cash from centres established to house asylum seekers and recently-arrived migrants.
Police are in the process of interviewing suspects and have not ruled out further arrests in the near future.
The mayor of Rome said Friday he had been offered police protection after an anti-Mafia sweep in the Italian capital landed top politicians and a notorious mobster in handcuffs.
Ignazio Marino said he was told he could not use his bicycle any more “because I am angering very dangerous organisations”, and admitted he was worried by the news of threats made against him.
Police arrested 37 people on Tuesday and named 100 people — including Marino’s predecessor Gianni Alemanno — as being under investigation in a probe into a criminal network which fed off dirty deals between businessmen and local politicians.
Among those arrested was mastermind Massimo Carminati, once member of the Magliana gang which terrorised Rome in the 1970s and 1980s, who has been dubbed “last king of Rome” by his fellow criminals.
Wire tapped conversations collected by police during their investigation into the network revealed Carminati’s men had attempted to buy Marino’s cooperation and failed, leading to questions as to how to take the Rome mayor out of play.
“Yours truly was and is a problem (for the criminals). They tried to stop me winning the elections by any means, and after the election they tried to get close to me somehow,” Marino said.
“They said ‘we have to bring him down, we have to get rid of him,’ though they said it in a more violent fashion,” he told the foreign press.
Police raids led to the confiscation of 200 million euros ($245 million) worth of goods and property.
Investigators believe that as well as rigging contracts given out by municipal authorities, the Mafia network also skimmed off cash from centres established to house asylum seekers and recently-arrived migrants.
Police are in the process of interviewing suspects and have not ruled out further arrests in the near future.
