A nun was among 25 people arrested in Italy on suspicion of being part of a criminal gang with links to the country’s most powerful mafia network, the ’Ndrangheta.

The nun is alleged to have been the conduit between the gang and its associates in prison, prosecutors in Brescia, northern Italy, said on Thursday.

A former councillor with Brothers of Italy, the party led by the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and a former politician with the League, a ruling coalition partner, were also arrested and more than €1.8m in illicit earnings seized by police in the dawn raids across several towns in the Lombardy and Veneto regions, as well as Calabria in the south.

The suspects are accused of crimes including extortion, arms and drugs trafficking, receiving stolen goods, usury, tax crimes, money-laundering and, in the case of the League politician, vote-buying. The Brothers of Italy politician is alleged to have made himself available to the gang “during the execution of crimes”.

Francesco Prete, chief prosecutor in Brescia, told a press conference that the suspects “exploited the criminal fame of the original [‘Ndrangheta] organisation” while adapting it to northern Italy, where they “dealt with fiscal matters”.

Teodoro Catananti, deputy prosecutor, said the gang deployed the “typical violence” used by the ‘Ndrangheta, but “demonstrated a chameleon-like ability to keep up with the times”.

The nun was named in the Italian press as Anna Donelli, 57. According to Rai news, she has been a volunteer at San Vittore prison in Milan since 2010 and has also worked in prisons in Pavia and Rome. In February she was one of the recipients of the “Golden Panettone”, an annual Milanese civic award.

Catananti said she is accused “of external complicity in a mafia association” and served to “convey information” from prison to the criminal group.

Investigators said her “spiritual role” ensured connection with the prisoners and allowed her to have “free access to the penitentiary facilities”.

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’Ndrangheta, which originated in Calabria, is one of the world’s richest organised crime groups. It has exploited its vast cocaine revenues to extend its reach across Italy, the rest of Europe and beyond. Earlier this year, more than 130 people were detained in coordinated raids in half a dozen European countries as part of a crackdown against the organisation.