About 130 people were arrested on Tuesday in a large-scale operation against the Sicilian Mafia in Palermo, showing it remains a significant criminal force despite the setbacks of recent decades, Reuters reported.

The Cosa Nostra mafia syndicate, based in and around Palermo, terrorized Italy in the 1980s and 1990s but has since been dethroned from its position as Europe's most powerful mafia by the Calabrian Ndrangheta.

The suspects arrested on Tuesday were charged with various offenses, including drug trafficking, attempted murder, extortion, illegal online gambling, and illegal possession of firearms, Carabinieri police said in a statement.

Additional arrest warrants were issued for 33 suspects who were already in jail for other crimes.

The investigation revealed that Palermo's mafia families coordinate their activities throughout the city and its province, as they did in the golden days of Cosa Nostra, especially with regard to drug trafficking, police said.

They said the inner-city families have regained power compared to the years when they were dominated by a group from Corleone, the town outside Palermo where infamous bosses Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano were born.

Investigators say today's Mafia bosses use modern technology to conduct their business, using encrypted cell phones that are smuggled into prisons to allow imprisoned bosses to continue to exercise their command.

Cosa Nostra continues to attract young men, the Carabinieri said, noting that they documented one case in which a new recruit was given “mafia lessons” by an older associate.

The would-be mentor gave the young man “specific instructions, asking him to model his behavior toward people who would be extorted and advising him how to behave with Mafia leaders,” police said in a statement.