Camorra
According to Naples public prosecutor Giovanni Melillo, during a 2023 speech of the Antimafia Commission, the most powerful groups of the Camorra in the present day are the Mazzarella clan and the Secondigliano Alliance.
Officials of the Kingdom of Naples may have introduced the organisation to the area, or it may have developed gradually from small criminal gangs operating in Neapolitan society near the end of the 18th century.
[14][15] The evolution into more organised formations indicated a qualitative change: the Camorra and camorristi were no longer local gangs living off theft and extortion; they had a fixed structure and some kind of hierarchy.
[14] In 1869, Ciccio Cappuccio was elected as the capintesta (head-in-chief) of the Camorra by the twelve district heads (capintriti), succeeding De Crescenzo after a short interregnum.
Through a mixture of brute force, political status, and social leadership, the Camorra clans gained ground as middlemen between the local community and bureaucrats and politicians at national level.
[37] Roberto Saviano, an investigative journalist and author of Gomorra, an exposé of the activities of the Camorra, says that this sprawling network of clans now dwarfs the Sicilian Mafia, the 'Ndrangheta and southern Italy's other organised gangs, in numbers, in economic power and in ruthless violence.
"[42] The boss of the Casalesi clan, Gaetano Vassallo, admitted to systematically working for 20 years to bribe local politicians and officials to gain their acquiescence to dumping toxic waste.
However, the government has been hard pressed to find funds for promoting long-term reforms that are needed to improve the local economic outlook and create jobs.
The Carabinieri and the Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) are also fighting criminal activities related to tax evasion, border controls, and money laundering.
[59] The Italian state confiscated €30 million including real estate in Luxembourg belonging to Angelo Grillo, a businessman from Marcianise, considered very close to the Belforte clan.
[75] On 24 September 2019, the Italian police arrested Salvatore Ferro, step brother of Gaetano Beneduce, head of the historical Beneduce-Longobardi clan, based in Pozzuoli.
[104] After months of investigations and joint activities of the Interpol, on 3 June 2020, the Italian government finally obtained the extradition of Salvatore Vittorio from Dominican Republic to Italy.
[110] According to the investigations, the Cesaros were involved in a scheme between entrepreneurs, municipal technicians, politicians and well-known representatives of the local organized crime, such as members of the Puca clan.
[114][115][116][117] It has also spread outside the boundaries of Italy, and acquired a foothold in other countries, in particular in Spain, but also in the Netherlands, France, Morocco, United Kingdom, Romania, Switzerland, Peru and Ivory Coast.
[119] In 1993, the Camorra and the Sicilian Mafia were accused of running a $1.5 billion operation to launder drug money through banks, insurance companies, hotels and casinos in Italy and on the French Riviera, arresting 36 suspects.
[142] In the 1980s, Umberto Ammaturo, a Camorra affiliate, established a virtual monopoly of cocaine trafficking to Italy from Peru, where he benefited from the protection and collusion of important personalities.
[155] According to the Italian antimafia police, in recent times, the Camorra clans based in Spain have accumulated €700 million as a result of drug trafficking and money laundering in the country.
After his decision to become a pentito, and afraid of retaliation by the Camorra, Barasso would be willing to return to Spain, where he has wife and children, and pay his penalty there, as provided by the bilateral agreements between the two countries.
[164] According to a 2019 documentary of the Spanish television, Barcelona is the nerve center of the organization outside Italy, exposing the endless business of the Camorra in Catalonia, from the massive drug trafficking to the laundering of huge amounts of money in restaurants, clubs and hotels of the region.
The documentary also features an interview with Maurizio Prestieri, former member of the Di Lauro clan arrested in Marbella in 2003 and now pentito, who said that Spain is the favorite place for the camorristi.
[170] In 2017, assets worth €20 million belonging to the Potenza brothers, who are considered to be linked to the Lo Russo clan, were seized in Lugano, including bank accounts in BSI.
In the 1980s, many Camorra members and associates fled the internecine gang warfare and Italian justice, which was directed at suppressing the groups, and immigrated to the United States.
Although they did not appear to recreate their clan structure in the United States, Camorra members have established a presence in Los Angeles, New York City, and Springfield, Massachusetts.
According to the investigations, the cocaine brought from Colombia was pure and of high quality, and when it arrived in Italy, it was sold at a "retail" price of 200 euros per gram, all the scheme was managed by Camorra members.
[224][225][226] In 2005, it was alleged the Camorra created safe houses, forged documents, firearms, and explosives to Al-Qaeda in return for narcotics, which are brought into Italy via the Adriatic Sea.
Whilst the older bosses often operated out of the limelight, these young criminals broadcast their exploits on social media, posing in designer clothes and with €200 bottles of champagne.
[238] She was arrested again at Rome's Ciampino airport by Carabinieri on the orders of Naples prosecutors, alleged to have been running extortion rackets as head of the Licciardi Camorra clan, on 7 August 2021 when attempting to travel to Spain.
[241] After a time inactive, the De Luca Bossa clan is believed to be gaining power again in the eastern area of Naples, specifically in Ponticelli, thanks to the merger with emergent groups as the Minichini and Schisa.
In 1998, ‘O sicco made the first attack with a car bomb in the Camorra's history, killing Luigi Amitrano, the nephew of the boss Vincenzo Sarno, the real target of the ambush.
More than a hundred of relatives and friends were waiting for them for a party with champagne, flashing nightclub lights, a large fireworks display and a concert of Anthony, a well known neomelodic singer of the area.
