During their probe which stretched from the island of Sicily to the Alps in Northn Italy, Authorities uncovered a plot to form a new Nazi party called the Italian National Socialist Party of Workers, according to Reuters. 

The probe revealed a "huge and varied array of subjects, residents in different places, united by the same ideological fanaticism and willing to create an openly pro-Nazi, xenophobic and anti-Semitic movement", a police statement said.

Police did not say how many people joined the group or how many arrests were made. In Italy "defense of fascism" and efforts to revive fascist parties are crimes. -Reuters

The weapons, confiscated during searches of 19 properties, included pistols, hunting rifles and crossbows. Police also found a range of Nazi paraphernalia, including photos of Adolf Hitler and swastikas.