Italian authorities raided the homes of 19 extremists — including a “Miss Hitler” beauty contest winner — who allegedly wanted to start a new Nazi party in the country, according to new reports.
The group are accused of seeking to launch an openly “pro-Nazi, xenophobic and anti-Semitic movement” called the “Partito Nazionalsocialista Italiano dei Lavoratori,” or the Italian National Socialist Workers’ Party, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
The suspects include an ex-con thought to be a senior figure in the Calabria-based ‘Ndrangheta mafia and a 26-year-old woman from Sicily who won an online “Miss Hitler” beauty contest.
A 50-year-old Padua woman with no criminal record, known as “Hitler’s Sergeant Major,” was allegedly a senior member of the group, according to the report. Swastikas, Nazi flags and anti-Semitic material were reportedly discovered at her home.
Automatic weapons, rifles, crossbows, swords, knives and bulletproof vest found in search.ITALIAN POLICE/AFP via Getty ImaItaly’s Polizia di Stato said that they conducted searches, part of what they called “Operation Black Shadows,” in 16 cities and towns, including Milan, Genoa, Livorno, Turin, Padua and Verona, according to FOX News.
Some suspects “had a vast amount of weapons and explosives at their disposal,” and others posted anti-Semitic and Holocaust-denying material on social media in an attempt to recruit new members, authorities said.
The group allegedly launched a chat forum for the military-style training of militants, and also contacted other neo-Nazi groups outside in Portugal, the UK and France, according to reports.
It was unclear how many people, if any, were arrested, FOX reported.
Italian law prohibits “defense of fascism” or any attempt to revive fascist parties.
