Italian police say they have arrested one of the country's leading crime bosses, Luigi Esposito, in the southern city of Naples.

The mafia head, who has been in hiding since 2003, is believed to be a leading figure in the Nuvoletta Camorra clan.

The 49-year-old is on Italy's list of 30 most wanted men and was convicted of drugs trafficking and associating with the mafia three years ago. A court handed him a nine-year prison sentence.

The arrest, dubbed as a 'heavy blow for the Camorra' by the Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, is the third bust of its kind this month alone amid stepped up police efforts to fight the stifling clutch of the mafia.

In September, Maroni said the Camorra had declared a 'war on the state' by trying to stamp out any opposition to its criminal power. His comments came two days after the Italian government announced it was sending 500 troops to the southern Campania region to address the 'mafia-linked' killing of several African nationals.

On November 1, police arrested two mafia bosses, Pasquale and Carmine Russo, a day after their brother, Salvatore, was nabbed in a farm raid.

Salvatore, 51, is one of Italy's most wanted mafia fugitives, running from a 1995 conviction that sentenced him to life in jail for murder and links to organized crime

Recent reports have however portrayed an alarming phenomenon, suggesting the criminal underworld was evolving to adjust to the arrests with the wives of ex-leaders assuming high-ranking positions in some mafia clans.

ZHD/AKM