Sources at the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York confirmed to AFP that ten people there had been arrested on racketeering charges.

They are accused of being members and associates of the Gambino family, one of five major Italian-American mob organisations in the northeastern United States.

Italian police said the investigation with the FBI, which began in April 2021, confirmed the "robustness" of US-Italian crime links and highlighted "the American interest in the organisational affairs of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra".

In addition, the inquiry revealed details of extortion in New York, from the construction trade to moves against restauranteurs of Sicilian origin as a way of pressuring their families back home, the statement said.