AC Milan, Inter Ultras Arrested For Alleged Organised Crime Offences

Hardcore supporters of AC Milan and Inter Milan were arrested on Monday for alleged organised crime offences as part of a probe into illegal profits made around matches and the infiltration of mafia gangs into so-called "ultras" groups. Italy's finance police said leading figures among the "ultras" groups were arrested for "criminal conspiracy aggravated by mafia methods, extortion, assault and other serious crimes". "The suspects are almost all members of the Milan teams' ultras groups while the crimes relate to revenues made around football," finance police said in a statement.

In total 19 people were arrested, including the two heads of the Inter and Milan ultras, Renato Bosetti and Luca Lucci, following a long investigation which included two years of wiretaps.

The alleged crimes involve activities around the San Siro stadium on matchdays, from ticket touting to control of parking, sales from concession stands and taking payment from people without tickets and letting them into the stadium.

Bosetti's predecessors as leaders of the Inter ultras, Marco Ferdico and Andrea Beretta, were accused of allowing the Bellocco clan of the powerful 'Ndrangheta mafia to be "represented within the stands by a person already convicted for mafia-related crimes", Milan prosecutor Marcello Viola said.

That representative was Antonio Bellocco, who magistrate Domenico Santoro said was the only serious mafioso among those being investigated and who was killed by Beretta earlier this month.

Beretta, who himself has a long criminal record, stabbed Bellocco to death during an altercation outside a boxing gym in a Milan suburb reportedly after he realised his life was in danger.

Bellocco's death was a shock because of his status within the