'Mafia Using Flower Power To Fund Mobsters'

Christmas flowers are at the centre of an alleged scam after four suspected mafia members were arrested by police in Italy.

Red poinsettia plants - a traditional Christmas gift in Italy - were allegedly being forcibly sold to shopkeepers around Naples in order to raise money for jailed mobsters.

According to police, mafia members were selling them at over 20 times their original price and if the owners did not buy them they faced retribution.

Business owners usually sell the flowers for around three euros but the mobsters were forcing shopkeepers to buy them for up to 100 euros (£85).

The four men are alleged to belong to the Camorra, based in Naples, and the largest of the Italian mafia organised crime groups.

A police statement said: "In some parts of Naples, the Christmas poinsettias, which should soften people's hearts, have a whiff of crime about them."

Since Christmas 2011 the investigation has been ongoing and the festive season is reportedly a peak time for mafia protection racket demands in Italy.

The Camorra is one of the four main mafia groups in Italy. Others include the Sicilian mafia, the 'Ndrangheta mafia (based in Calabria) and the Sacra Corona Unita (based in the Puglia region).

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