Wives muscle into front ranks of Mafia

Rome: Mafia experts have heralded a new age of the godmother as the Italian underworld turns to women to fill the gaps left by godfathers behind bars.

It may sound like a plot line from the 1988 Hollywood comedy Married to the Mob, but the reality is chillingly different, with women gang leaders reputed to be as determined and ruthless as the men.

Just as their male counterparts celebrate their notoriety with nicknames like "Midnight Fatty" and "The Tractor," so their wives and girlfriends are given monikers like "Fat Cat" and "Tomboy" - the latter is the name for a woman who was shot in the face during a feud.

Anti-mafia campaigns in Naples Camorra chieftains have put dozens of mobsters in prison. Carabinieri arrested 11 women for drug trafficking in a raid on Naples's Sarno crime clan in July. A mother and her two adult daughters were arrested on organised-crime charges, including extortion.

"There is a growing number of women who hold executive roles," said General Gaetano Maruccia, commander of the Carabinieri in the Naples area. "They are either widows or wives of husbands who have been put in prison. They hold the reins. They're very good at mapping out strategy, even sharper [than the men]."