The U.S. Treasury Department said it designated five leaders of the Italian crime organization known as the Camorra as targets for sanctions.

President Barack Obama designated the Camorra, which is centered in and around the city of Naples, as a transnational criminal organization on July 24, the Treasury said today in a faxed statement. The group is one of Europe’s biggest crime syndicates, involved in money laundering, extortion, alien smuggling, robbery, blackmail, kidnapping, political corruption and counterfeiting, according to the statement.

“The action is designed to squeeze the Camorra out of the global financial system and protect the U.S. financial system from laundering of its criminal proceeds,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen said in the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Davis in Rome at abdavis@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tim Quinson at tquinson@bloomberg.net