Italian police announced on Thursday they arrested 40 alleged members of the Calabrian Mafia believed to be involved in the murder of six Italian nationals earlier this month in the German town of Duisburg.

The detained are suspected to have close ties with the 'Ndrangheta organized crime network in southern Italy and are allegedly involved in the feud between two rival clans that reached even Germany.

Six men were shot dead near an Italian restaurant in Duisburg on August 15, investigators believing they were connected to the Calabrian organized crime and were the victims of a vendetta.

Most of the arrests were carried out in the small town of San Luca, in the Calabria region, where the two clans Pelle-Romeo (Pelle-Vottari) and Strangio-Nirta are based. According to preliminary investigations, the six men murdered in Duisburg were part of the Pelle-Romeo family and were killed by members of the rival clan.

The war between these two clans has been raging for more than a decade and made numerous victims. The wife of the alleged Strangio-Nirta leader was murdered last year and one of the men shot in Germany was a prime suspect in the crime.

Italian media said the arrested are charged with murder, arms smuggling and association with organized crime. Among those detained are the brothers of two of the Duisburg victims, police saying the are involved in the murder of Maria Strangio.