Fifty-four people have been arrested in the US, in an anti-Mafia operation targeting the Gambino family.
Among those being charged are the alleged street boss, under-boss and consigliere of the mafia family; the three highest ranking members not already in prison.
Most of the arrests were made in the New York area, on accusations of murder, racketeering, extortion, loan-sharking and labour violations.
A further 20 arrests were made in Sicily in the joint Italian-US operation codenamed Old Bridge.
The operation is being carried out by Italian police and the FBI.
The Gambino crime family, one of five operating in New York, was at the centre of the Pizza Connection trial in the 1980s, one of the largest criminal cases in US history.
A total of 90 arrest warrants were issued in the transatlantic sweep.
