(ANSA) - Palermo, January 30 - Carabinieri police in Palermo on Tuesday arrested six suspected members of the local Bagheria clan in an operation coordinated by DDA anti-mafia police.

The suspects are accused of mafia association and aggravated extortion against local retailers and entrepreneurs.

They include Paolo Liga, nephew of Mafia boss Giuseppe Scaduto, a leader of the Bagheria clan who was arrested on October 30 last year and who was in contact with fugitive boss of bosses Matteo Messina Denaro, investigators say.

Liga was allegedly in charge of his clan's relations with other Mafia clans in Palermo and Trapani.

According to a number of 'pentiti', Mafia insiders who turned State witnesses and aided the investigation, the Bagheria clan is able to reorganize after every police operation by immediately replacing its arrested members, according to investigative sources.

Palermo Carabinieri Commander Antonio Di Stasio said the arrests on Tuesday "targeted the process to replace the chiefs and historic affiliates with new generations of criminals, the sons of leaders of the most influential families of Cosa Nostra".

