Italian authorities say they have found an undercurrent of crime in Venice, the capital city of the Veneto region.<br/> <br />On Wednesday they say they put a stop to a Veneto separatist movement.<br/> <br />They arrested 24 secessionists, including a former member of parliament.<br/> <br />The plan was reminiscent of the 1997 seizure of a famed bell tower by armed separatists who proclaimed an independent Venetian republic.<br/> <br />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.
