Jun.07, 2010, 3:41pm EDT

In an echo of 1970s film "The French Connection," the operation involved 150 officers who took 21 people into custody in and around Marseille for money laundering and slot machine trafficking.

Police said some of the high-profile gangsters were arrested as they set out on a 27-meter luxury yacht with their families in the Golfe-Juan marina.

Among the arrested was Bernard Barresi, who has been on the run for 18 years after being sentenced in absentia in 1994 to 20 years in prison for attacking an armored van. Nightclub owners and brothers Michel and Gerald Campanella were also arrested.

"We have well-known people around whom a legend has been built. It now behooves us to prove whether that legend is a reality," Christian Lothion, head of the Marseille judicial police, told a news conference.

He said some of the names of those arrested were "music to our ears."

Police said they had also seized four yachts, 200,000 euros ($238,800) in cash, false papers, weapons, vehicles and a stash of luxury watches. One person was found in possession of some 70 cellphones and around forty slot machines were seized from bars.

"These are people who smell of organized crime. They have a pedigree for the most part and have climbed the ladder of crime to make a lot of money," said Lothion.

Police were acting after a preliminary investigation was opened on January 25 into breach of gaming law, criminal conspiracy, money laundering, non-justification of resources and extortion of money.

The 1971 drama "The French Connection," which stars Gene Hackman, centres on two hardbitten New York police cops trying to crack drugs smuggling between Marseille and New York City.