A statement released by a coalition of law enforcement agencies detailed allegations that the nun took advantage of her position as a volunteer at the prison.
The Brescia Carabinieri said she was an innocent person whose religious role gave her “unfettered access to prison facilities.”
The police statement did not identify the politicians or other people targeted in the investigation.
The operation continues, with hundreds of police officers searching across northern Italy.
They are being assisted by a sniffer dog unit that searches for weapons and drugs and a ‘cash dog’ trained to search for cash, police said.
Investigators allege the group mainly used its scrap metal trading business as a front for money laundering, with the laundered cash totaling €12 million, prosecutors said.
The ‘Ndrangheta, which originated in the impoverished region of Calabria, is considered one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the world.
Last November, more than 200 people were sentenced to a total of more than 2,200 years in prison in one of Italy’s largest mafia trials.
