More than 110 suspects, including organized crime members and associates, were arrested on Thursday in one of the largest such operations ever in the United States, officials said.

The crimes they were charged with ranged from murder and narcotics trafficking to extortion, illegal gambling, arson, loan sharking, and labor racketeering.

"We are pleased to announce an important step forward in our nation's ongoing fight against the organized crime families of La Cosa Nostra -- the mafia," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters at the Department of Justice's Eastern District of New York in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

"More than 800 federal, state and local law enforcement officials have arrested over 110 individuals, including dozens of La Cosa Nostra members and associates," he said. "In total, 127 people have been charged in 16 indictments unsealed today in four districts in New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island."

"This is one of the largest single-day operations against the mafia in the FBI's history, both in terms of the number of defendants arrested and charged, and the scope of the criminal activity alleged," the government's top lawyer said.

He said those arrested came from all five New York-based mafia groups, the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Luchese families.

Mob bosses and associates arrested included "the former boss of La Cosa Nostra operations in New England; the Street Boss, Acting Underboss, and Consigliere of the Colombo family; and the Gambino family Consigliere and a member of that family's ruling panel," Holder said.