Italian authorities have arrested dozens of suspects in yet another crackdown on illegal gambling connected to organized crime.

On Wednesday, Italian police in Bari, Reggio Calabria and Catania, in coordination with the National Anti-Mafia and Counter-Terrorism Directorate, arrested 68 individuals and seized assets worth over €1b in a transnational investigation into illegal gambling operations that reportedly handled over €4.5b in wagers.

The arrested individuals face a battery of charges, including illegal gambling, money laundering, tax evasion and connections to organized crime. Three separate investigations were bundled into a single action after determining that the illegal gambling operations were interconnected.

In the Catania probe, the perps are believed to have netted a profit of over €50m between 2011 and 2017. These profits were then laundered through a variety of shell companies, most of which appear to have been based in Curacao.