Mafia target Ocean's Twelve

The mafia has been targeting "Ocean's Twelve", it has emerged.

10:00 14 July 2004

The mafia has been targeting "Ocean's Twelve", it has emerged.

Police informers shed light on a protection racket against the crime caper production which included arson attacks on production vehicles.

Two female gang bosses were among the 23 people arrested as part of the investigation. Antonella Di Graziano, 45, and Rosa Fiordilillo, 51, took over the crime syndicate when their husbands were sent to jail.

A police spokesman based near the film set in Sicily said: "When the production set arrived, it was right in the middle of territory controlled by Antonella and Rosa.

"It was common knowledge that the film was going to be shot near Trapani, and local firms involved were targeted and ordered to hand over protection.

"They have been controlling their crime family for years, ever since their husbands were put away.

"They were responsible for extortion and protection, and people who didn't pay were threatened and subjected to bomb attacks."

Along with the arrests, Sicilian police got an added bonus.

"It wasn't a bad job for those officers involved as, in the beach scenes, Catherine Zeta Jones swims in the sea at midnight," the spokesman added.

"Ocean's Twelve" was filmed in Italy for a month, with scenes also shot in Rome and at George Clooney's waterside villa on Lake Como.

The film is set for release in the UK on February 4th. Its cast reads like a who's who of the Hollywood A-List, with Clooney and Zeta Jones joined by Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia and Matt Damon, with a cameo by British comic Eddie Izzard.