Francesco Campana, believed to be the leader of an organization known as the Sacra Corona Unita, was arrested at a hiding place in the medieval town of Oria, near Brindisi.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said in a statement the arrest was a hard blow against Sacra Corona Unita, a smaller organization than the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, L’Ndrangheta in Calabria and the Camorra in Naples.

It is believed to specialize largely in contraband and smuggling from the Balkans and eastern Europe.