Police on Thursday were engaged in a major crackdown against two organised crime gangs here in southeast Italy.
Arrest warrants were issued for some 70 members of the rival Pistillo-Pesce and Pastore gangs, which operate out of northern Bari, on charges of drug trafficking and possession of illegal weapons.
Around 700 police were involved in the operation which saw arrests made here and in the nearby towns of Andria, Bareltta, Canosa, Trani and Corato.
Police believe that among those arrested were those also responsible for bomb attacks against police stations nearby Andria.
The rising Pistillo-Pesce and the 'historic' Pastore gangs have been at war since 1999, when reputed gang leader Agostino Pesce was gunned down in a hail of Kalashnikov fire.
This was followed by a series of revenge killings.
