Naples - Italian mafia investigators on Saturday confiscated the fabled Lake Avernus, which lies in a volcanic crater in the province of Naples.
The lake is privately owned and according to investigators belongs to a stooge of the Casalesi mafia clan, Italian media reported.
The lake, with its temples and grottos, was described by poets such as Vergil and Dante as the entrance to the underworld.
It is currently in the hands of a country club organisation which bought the lake two years ago from a tourism businessman who had been imprisoned at the time.
Mafia investigators have not just been arresting clan members but are attempting to inflict damage on it by confiscating property, restaurants, hotels and luxury cars.
Author: Hanns-Jochen Kaffsack - Sapa-dpa