In 2002, he decided to collaborate with Italian law enforcement and became a pentito, a co-operating witness against organised crime.
The Giuliano clan was on such bad terms with rival mobster Michele Zaza that it launched an attack against his nephew Pasquale in December 1979.
Cutolo demanded to receive a cut from the Giulianos' illegal gambling centres and lottery system in his power base of Portici.
[5] The breaking point was reached when the NCO tried to move into the Giulianos' stronghold of Forcella, Piazza Mercato and Via Duomo, in the centre of Naples.
[5] The clash, which had occurred in a period of growing tension, led to the formation of the Nuova Famiglia (NF) to oppose Cutolo’s predominant NCO, consisting of Giuliano, Zaza, the Nuvolettas and Antonio Bardellino from Casal Di Principe (the Casalesi clan).
After the defeat of Cutolo, the leaders of the NF achieved absolute dominance over all criminal rackets in the city of Naples.
[7] In January 2001, his wife Carmela Marzano was arrested and charged with threatening the widow of Giuseppe Ginosa, a rival Camorrista.
He even made several statements against his former ally, Giuseppe Misso, and revealed specific details regarding the murder of the Vatican's banker Roberto Calvi, who was found hanging from scaffolding beneath Blackfriars Bridge in the financial district of London in 1982.