LA REPUBBLICA, LA STAMPA (Italy) Worldcrunch NAPLES - In an operation dubbed “Bufalo,” Italian police have arrested one of the world's top high-end mozzarella producers for suspected ties to a brutal Naples mob clan, La Stampa reported. Giuseppe Mandara was taken into custody, along with other managers at Mandara S.P.A. on suspicion of collusion with the Camorra, one of the world's most powerful and violent crime syndicates. An estimated 100 million euros in company assets were seized from Mandara. Mandara, which produces the treasured DOP-certified mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella) in the area around Naples, exports an estimated 44,000 pounds of cheese each day to the United States, Japan, Russia and New Zealand. The company also produces other cheese varieties including ricotta and provolone. Beyond mob ties, Mandara is also accused of endangering the public health because of allegedly false claims that their provolone is a special “provolone del Monaco” variety, La Repubblica reported.
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