Italian police said Monday they had arrested Francesco Schiavone, a prominent member of the Camorra, the Neapolitan branch of the mafia.
Schiavone, 29, "is considered to be the current acting chief of the Casalesi," Michele Centola, one of the policemen involved in his capture, told the SkyTG24 news channel.
The Casalesi, one of the Camorra's most powerful clans, had been led by Schiavone's father Francesco, also known as "Sandokan," until his arrest in 1998. The leadership then passed on to three of his brothers, who also ended up in jail.
The suspected mobster was arrested overnight in a nightclub in Aversa, a town 20 kilometers north of Naples. "Well done," he is said to have told arresting officers, who found him armed and carrying
8,000 euros (10,650 dollars).
Schiavone has been charged with attempted racketeering, after a businessman told police that he had been asked to pay him 10,000 euros in protection money.