REGGIO CALABRIA, Italy, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced a new national agency Thursday to take charge of seizing assets from organized crime.
Berlusconi and his cabinet met in Reggio Calabria, the base of the 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. They unveiled a plan that includes merging and streamlining laws targeting organized crime and creating a map and data base of businesses with ties to the mob.
"Firms will have a blacklist of companies so they know who not to sub-contract work to," Berlusconi said.
The prime minister signed a decree setting up the agency to oversee asset forfeitures. The other parts of the plan will need approval from parliament.
The plan is aimed at 'Ndrangheta, the Camorra in Naples and Cosa Nostra or the Mafia in Sicily.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said the waste disposal industry, believed to be one of the mob's biggest sources of revenue, will be targeted.
Berlusconi complained about television shows that glamorize organized crime. Aiart, a Catholic group that monitors TV, responded that the prime minister's broadcast company shows two of the highest-rated mob shows.
