Italian police and the FBI, working side by side to crack down on the mafia. A joint international swoop by the two organisations on a Sicilian-based Cosa Nostra clan resulted in the arrests of 26 people. Twenty were apprehended in Palermo in Italy, and the rest in New York and Miami in the U.S.

Italian police said the arrests are the result of years of work.

[Gilerto Caldarozzi, Italian Police Officer]:

"Today we saw a wide ranging operation based on cooperation which has been going on for years along with the FBI and the special police force in Palermo."

Authorities in both Italy and the U.S. believe the arrests will have a strong impact on organised crime. These latest detentions follow a string of high profile arrests in recent years, during which a number of senior mafia members have been apprehended.