Mobsters held after girlfriend of 'Mafia boss' spills the beans

Italian police arrested 28 suspected mobsters today after the girlfriend of an alleged Mafia boss turned informer.

Monica Vitale said she revealed the activities of her lover Gaspare Parisi and his associates because she could no longer stand his life of crime. She is now in hiding under police protection.

The arrests were made in Palermo, Sicily, after a 15-month surveillance operation.

It emerged that one alleged mobster, Calogero Lo Presti, had been extorting money from a TV crew making a crime series on the Mafia. It is claimed that Lo Presti and his associates had infiltrated the set of Squadra Antimafia and secured contracts for catering and transport.

He was recorded boasting: "If they carry on paying and using the services we provide they will have no problems on the set." Miss Vitale told police she had heard the mobsters discuss the murder of former MP Enzo Fragala who was beaten to death last year.