ROME, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Italian authorities arrested 12 people and placed others under investigation on Wednesday for allegedly being part of a neo-Nazi group planning terrorist activities.
Prosecutors in Bologna and Naples, in coordination with the National Anti-Terrorism and Anti-Mafia Investigative Directorate, launched the probe, which identified a total of 25 individuals under suspicion.
The suspects face various charges, including forming a criminal organization with terrorist intent, promoting neo-Nazi propaganda, inciting racial, ethnic, or religious discrimination, and illegal possession of firearms.
The group, calling themselves the "Werwolf Division," comprised members aged between 19 and 76 years, according to DIGOS, the special police force responsible for the operation. The name "Werwolf Division" refers to a Nazi secret force established in the final months of World War II to counter the advancing Allies.
The suspects followed "supremacist and neo-Nazi ideals up to the most extreme accelerationism (a white supremacy ideology)," DIGOS said in a statement.
"The organization aimed to overthrow the current establishment in favor of an authoritarian state centered on the Aryan race. Members were even planning violent actions against high-ranking state officials," the statement said.
Police conducted searches at 13 suspects' homes across 18 cities, uncovering Nazi flags, extremist propaganda, banners inciting violence, and knives with Nazi symbols.
Under Italian law, crimes involving racial supremacy propaganda and incitement to racial, ethnic, or religious discrimination and violence carry sentences of up to six years in prison.
