Italian authorities say they have found an undercurrent of crime in Venice, the capital city of the Veneto region.
On Wednesday they say they put a stop to a Veneto separatist movement.
They arrested 24 secessionists, including a former member of parliament.
The plan was reminiscent of the 1997 seizure of a famed bell tower by armed separatists who proclaimed an independent Venetian republic.
Organizers of an informal online poll said 89 percent of respondents had voted for Veneto, one of 20 regions in the country, to break away from Italy.
