ROME, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Italian police arrested seven people on Tuesday in a major anti-mafia operation supported by mobsters-turned informants, according to authorities and local media.

The seven suspects were believed to be leading members of the Sicilian mafia in Palermo, Sicily's regional capital, police said on Twitter.

Prosecutors with Palermo Anti-Mafia District Directorate (DDA) coordinating the probe variously charged them with mafia association and extortion.

Tuesday's swoop was linked to a wider operation that prevented the Sicilian mafia from reconvening its leading commission, or "cupola", in early December, according to Ansa news agency.

Among those arrested on Tuesday were two figures believed to rank highly and take part in the decisions of the mafia commission, police said in a statement.

One of the two was Calogero Lo Piccolo, 47, the son of a currently jailed mobster; and the other was 28-year-old Leandro Greco, the grandson of infamous boss Michele Greco, who died in 2008 while serving a life sentence inflicted by an Italian court in 1986.

Local media depicted the latest operation as a major blow to the Sicilian mafia also thanks to the role played by two mobsters-turned informants.

They provided crucial information on the role currently played by the new ranks of Cosa Nostra -- as the Sicilian mafia is also called -- in rebuilding and developing the organization, Ansa news agency reported.

Italy sees the presence of three traditional mafia organizations, namely Sicily's Cosa Nostra, Naples-based Camorra, and the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta. Enditem

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