Pasquale Barra ( Italian pronunciation: [paˈskwaːle ˈbarra] ; 18 January 1942 – 27 February 2015) was an Italian Camorrista who was a senior member and hitman for the Nuova Camorra Organizzata (NCO), a Camorra organization in Naples . Barra has the distinction of being the first NCO member to become a pentito , when he decided to collaborate with Italian Justice in 1982.
147-495: The Nuova Camorra Organizzata (in English: New Organized Camorra ) was an Italian Camorra criminal organization founded in the late 1970s by a Neapolitan Camorrista, Raffaele Cutolo , in the region of Campania . It was also known by the initials NCO . The organization was established with the purpose of renewing the old rural Camorra, which dealt in contraband cigarettes and extortion schemes in
294-665: A businessman believed to be connected to the Di Lauro clan, Puca clan , Aversano clan, Mallardo clan, Verde clan, Perfetto clan and to the Scissionisti di Secondigliano. On 10 August 2019, an operation of the police arrested six important members of the Rinaldi clan, particularly members of the Reale faction. They are accused of drug trafficking, extortion and illegal possession of weapons . The organization, once considered one of
441-449: A close one. From the very beginning, Barra had been a faithful follower of Cutolo whom he practically revered. Moreover, being a more practical and ordinary man, he was able to muffle some of the more extreme features of Cutolo's behavior and reveal them to the other people who would have otherwise been simply too scared to approach Cutolo. Barra was in fact the de facto link between Cutolo and other NCO members, bridging Cutolo's charisma with
588-462: A copy. Its possession alone would later be considered incriminating evidence. Cutolo openly supported the young inmates, who were confronted with abuse, brutality, physical aggression and rape. He provided them with advice and protection from the brutalities of other inmates. At the same time they learned how to behave as a good picciotto , the lowest entry level into the Camorra. Cutolo challenged
735-512: A criminal organization." According to the Justice department, this book was viewed by NCO members as the " Bible of the NCO" and was particularly popular in prison, due to Cutolo's own distribution by mail. Even though his book was impounded by magistrates within days of its publication, many prisoners, alienated from society both inside and outside jail, wrote to Cutolo and other NCO leaders asking for
882-733: A cut from his illegal gambling centres and lottery system in his base of Portici. A provisional death squad was set up, which contributed to the dozens of gangland deaths that year. The breaking point was reached when the NCO tried to move into the Giuliano's stronghold of Forcella, Piazza Mercato and Via Duomo, in the centre of Naples. A few days before Christmas , 1980, two NCO members presented themselves at an unloading of contraband cigarettes at Santa Lucia and demanded immediate payment of $ 400,000 to their organization, as well as insisting on future payment of $ 25 for every crate of cigarettes brought ashore. They then proceeded to shoot and injure one of
1029-571: A day. He avoided contact with everyone and chose to prepare his own tea and coffee, while carrying a knife carefully hidden in his anus at all times. Following this betrayal by Cutolo and his abandonment by the NCO, Pasquale Barra decided to become a pentito. From his cell in the local penitentiary in Foggia , Barra summoned Judge Apperti to inform him of his decision to collaborate with the Justice Department on October 18, 1982, thus becoming
1176-521: A direct Italian descendant of a Spanish secret society, the Garduña , founded in 1417. Recent historical research suggests that the Garduña did not exist and its legendary status was based on a 19th-century fictional book. According to historian John Dickie the Garduña was a fictional organisation that appeared from nowhere in a very popular French pulp novel published in 1845. The author probably based
1323-417: A kiss to our Prince (Cutolo). I am doing all I can to get transferred to Napoli to kill some of these scumbags, and I will perform one of my best dramas: they must pay, understand? ". In another letter to Cutolo's sister, Rosetta, he used even stronger words while describing about his project: " My dearest comare, regarding this crawling vermin (the traitors), be confident. I will give you full satisfaction. I
1470-551: A major impact on the criminal underworld. A lot of people lost their businesses and were left unemployed and destitute. Without any place to work at, these displaced persons particularly the young men, turned to the NF and NCO for work. During this time, the NCO was getting richer by infiltrating the network of earthquake relief agencies. It hoarded enormous quantities of relief funds and goods, and charged fees for protecting all businesses involved in earthquake re-construction. In addition to
1617-473: A man of great quality." Three months later, Lucarelli was killed during a clash with a rival gang. The NCO spread like wildfire in the crisis-ridden Campanian towns of the late 1970s, offering alienated youths an alternative to a lifetime of unemployment or poorly paid jobs. Hundreds of young men were employed as enforcers. Initially, the main specialisation of NCO gangs was extorting money through protection rackets from local businesses. The police calculated that
SECTION 10
#17327801912241764-524: A more practical vision of life. As such, Cutolo greatly appreciated Barra's role within the organization. For instance, when Cutolo purchased a 16th-century castle in Ottaviano which had previously belonged to the Medici dynasty, he had a special postcard of the castle printed with the caption " Castello Mediceo, private property of R. Cutolo and P. Barra. ". His great admiration for Barra was expressed in
1911-443: A national television reporter in a televised interview from Cutolo's family courtyard that he was ready to give his life for Cutolo. Cutolo thanked him by having one of his men, Marco Medda, write him a letter which was later seized by the police: "My dear Giarrone, your interview greatly flattered the professor; he is honored, in case of need, to accept the blood that from your noble vein will flow into his own. My dear Giarrone, you are
2058-610: A poem entitled " N'omme 'e Camorra " (A man of the Camorra) which was written by him for Barra's birthday. During the period between 1976 and 1983, when the NCO had total control over Ottaviano and the Neapolitan hinterland, Barra ruled this town of 200,000 inhabitants as his own personal fiefdom, ruling on every aspect of the town's activities, from illegal businesses such as prostitution , gambling and extortion to more respectable businesses. The NCO even had their own men inside
2205-758: A prominent affiliate of the De Luca Bossa clan , decided to move to the side of the State, becoming a pentito. According to reports, the De Luca Bossa clan, now the most powerful clan of Ponticelli and of much of the Vesuvian area, could soon crumble under the declarations of the new pentito. On 6 November 2019, the Carabinieri arrested Federico Rapprese, linked to the Rannucci clan and included in
2352-579: A pun on Cutolo's name)" and "Fight back". The savage war caused great inconveniences on the lives of the Neaploitan citizens, such that even a normal stroll through downtown Naples could be a potentially hazardous and life-threatening situation. This savage war caused in turn a greater attention from the Italian police organizations, pushing the Sicilian Mafia to accommodate an agreement between
2499-634: A series of meeting with the purpose of "legalizing" new bosses for Apulia. This process was called capi-zona a cielo scoperto (local outside bosses). To this end, Cutolo founded a separate branch of the NCO in Apulia called the Nuova Grande Camorra Pugliese (NGCP) in 1981, a formal organization particularly active in the area around Foggia , modeled after its parent organization in Campania, but with its own command hierarchy. It
2646-462: A short interregnum. Nicknamed "The king of Naples" ("o rre 'e Napole"), he died in 1892. Following Italian unification in 1861, the government made attempts to suppress the Camorra. From 1882, it conducted a series of manhunts. The Saredo Inquiry (1900–1901), established to investigate corruption and bad governance in Naples, identified a system of political patronage run by what the report called
2793-433: A state that if they try to step on us, we will kill. We are the living dead. I have already half a foot stepping on my head. If you step on me with the other half, I'll kill you." In a letter found by the local police, a young picciotto named Turisio Agrippino wrote to Salvatore Federico: "The true god is our beloved Raffaele Cutolo." Another young member of the NCO named Antonio Lucarelli aka "'o Giarrone" (The rascal) told
2940-478: A student in Ottaviano. Then there was his public nickname, 'o Nimale ("the Animal"), which was allegedly given to him by the Italian media. The third one was Alias , a self-appointed war name. A native of Ottaviano , the same town near Naples where Neapolitan crime boss Raffaele Cutolo was born, Barra was the first and most devoted member of Cutolo's gang ever since they were both teenagers. At 6' 3" tall, he
3087-545: A total of 354 years' imprisonment. Enrico Alfano , the main defendant and nominal head of the Camorra, was sentenced to 30 years. The Camorra has never been a unified, centralised organisation, but instead a loose confederation of different, independent clans, groups or families. Each group is bound by kinship ties and controlled economic activities that took place in its particular geographic territory. Each clan takes care of its own business, protects its territory, and sometimes tries to expand at another group's expense. There
SECTION 20
#17327801912243234-515: A transient circus. The NCO later branched out to cocaine trafficking, partly because it was less subject to police investigation than heroin , but also because the Sicilian Mafia was less involved in the cocaine trade. He also embarked on a ruthless campaign against the Sicilian Mafiosi operating in Campania. The years of the NCO's domination (1979–1983) saw the highest number of homicides, of which there were 900 in Campania alone. At
3381-410: A word dates from 1735, when a royal decree authorised the establishment of eight gambling houses in Naples. The word is likely a blend, or portmanteau, of " capo " (boss) and a Neapolitan street game, the " morra ". After gambling was prohibited by the local government, some people started making the players pay for protection against the attentions of passing police. The Camorra emerged during
3528-605: A working relationship with the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, whose leaders did not demand a share of the illicit profits. On 1 May 1983, with the sponsorship of the 'Ndrangheta capobastone, Giuseppe Rogoli founded the Sacra Corona Unita in Bari prison, a new Mafia invoking the regional Pugliese identity against the intrusion of the foreign Neapolitans. The Sacra Corona Unita received its legitimacy from Rogoli's induction into
3675-468: Is an Italian Mafia -type criminal organization and criminal society originating in the region of Campania . It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy , dating to the 18th century. The Camorra's organizational structure is divided into individual groups called "clans". Every capo or "boss" is the head of a clan, in which there may be tens or hundreds of affiliates, depending on
3822-552: Is believed to be the Camorra's local paymaster. 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. Grillo also owned the company Lynch Invest SA based in the country. In the name of this company, he purchased real estate in Campania and Sardinia . In November 2018, Italian police announced
3969-506: Is done with assurance of impunity, as the Camorrists will have the protection of successful politicians, who realize that they cannot be chosen to office without paying toll to the Camorra." Unlike the Sicilian Mafia, which has a clear hierarchy and a division of interests, the Camorra's activities are much less centralised. This makes the organisation much more difficult to combat through crude repression. In Campania, where unemployment
4116-500: Is gold." 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. The triangle of death and the waste management crisis is primarily a result of government failure to control illegal waste dumping. The government had attempted to mandate recycling and waste management programs, but were unable, causing
4263-485: Is high and opportunities are limited, the Camorra has become an integral part of the fabric of society. It offers a sense of community and provides the youth with jobs. Members are guided in the pursuit of criminal activities, including cigarette smuggling , drug trafficking, and theft. The government has made an effort to combat the Camorra's criminal activities in Campania. The solution ultimately lies in Italy's ability to offer values, education and work opportunities to
4410-464: Is now serving a life sentence after a criminal career which included arms trafficking, bomb attacks, armed robbery, and murder. Michele Zagaria , a senior member of the Casalesi clan, was arrested in 2011 after eluding police for 16 years. He was found in a secret bunker in the town Casapesenna, near Naples. In 2014, clan boss Mario Riccio was arrested for drug trafficking in the Naples area. Around
4557-430: Is simple. I don't care if I die or live. Actually in a way I'm looking for my death." A second picciotto said, "We are running towards our death. There is no purpose to living here. This is a bad life. Life here counts zero. What I have seen in these 23 years is enough and I'm already dead. Now I'm living on borrowed time. If they want to kill me, fine, what I have seen is enough." Similarly, a third one said, "We are in such
Nuova Camorra Organizzata - Misplaced Pages Continue
4704-468: Is some minimal coordination to avoid mutual interference. The families compete to maintain a system of checks and balances among equal powers. One of the Camorra's strategies to gain social prestige was and remains political patronage. The family clans became the preferred go-betweens of local politicians and public officials because of their grip on the community. In turn, the family bosses used their political sway to assist and protect their clients against
4851-605: The 1980 Irpinia earthquake . During the night of November 18, 1980, an earthquake of 6.8 on the Richter scale hit Naples and the Campania region. In the Poggioreale prison, the confusion and terror were magnified by the feeling of being entrapped. In order to avoid panic and a greater disaster, the prisoners were allowed to go to the jail courtyard presumed to be safer from collapsing buildings. However, this decision made by
4998-514: The Giuliano clan from Naples ' quarter Forcella (led by Luigi Giuliano ) and the Vollaro clan from Portici (led by Luigi Vollaro ). It was considered extinct in the late 1980s, when many of its bosses and members were killed or imprisoned. Cutolo's Camorra is described as the "mass Camorra" of unemployed youth specializing in protection rackets, while Carmine Alfieri's Camorra was seen as
5145-685: The Nuova Famiglia , a confederation of clans consisting of Michele Zaza (a Camorra boss with strong ties with Cosa Nostra ), the Gionta clan (from Torre Annunziata ), the Nuvoletta clan from Marano , Antonio Bardellino from San Cipriano d'Aversa and Casal di Principe , the Alfieri clan of Saviano led by Carmine Alfieri , the Galasso clan of Poggiomarino (led by Pasquale Galasso),
5292-454: The camorristi were the leaders of the city's poor. The new police chief, Liborio Romano , appealed to the head of the Camorra, Salvatore De Crescenzo, to maintain order and appointed him as head of the municipal guard. In a few decades, the Camorra had developed into power brokers. 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
5439-424: The cielo scoperto (i.e., the prison penitentiary system). When the NCO began its long standing war against the rival Camorra clans, particularly the newly formed Nuova Famiglia , he decided to primarily concentrate on the killing of rivals inside the prison system. It was during this time that the media started calling him "the killer of the prisons", and he acquired the nickname 'o Nimale ("the Animal"), due to
5586-485: The frieno , was discovered, indicating a stable organisational structure in the underworld. Another statute was discovered in 1842, related to initiation rites and funds set aside for the families of those imprisoned. The organisation was also known as the Bella Società Riformata , Società dell'Umirtà or Onorata Società . The evolution into more organised formations indicated a qualitative change:
5733-415: The prison, harassing other prisoners (specifically with requests for money) as well as offering membership in their organization, a process called legalizzazione (legislation). After consulting with his nephew Stephen Cutolo, Raffaele decided to adopt a strategy of assimilation of the local criminals. He opened availability for membership in the NCO to the locals, and decided to intervene directly, promoting
5880-406: The "high Camorra" was an integral part of the Camorra proper. Although the inquiry did not prove specific collusion between the Camorra and politics, it did reveal the patronage mechanisms that contributed to corruption in the municipality. The society's influence was weakened, which was exemplified by the defeat of all of their candidates in the 1901 Naples election. In the early 20th century, given
6027-470: The "high Camorra": The original low camorra held sway over the poor plebs in an age of abjection and servitude. Then there arose a high camorra comprising the most cunning and audacious members of the middle class. They fed off trade and public works contracts, political meetings and government bureaucracy. This high camorra strikes deals and does business with the low camorra, swapping promises for favours and favours for promises. The high camorra thinks of
Nuova Camorra Organizzata - Misplaced Pages Continue
6174-479: The "political Camorra" because of its ability to obtain public sector contracts through political contacts, and Lorenzo Nuvoletta 's as the "business Camorra" reinvesting drug money into construction following the 1980 earthquake. The founder of this organization, Raffaele Cutolo, also known as "'o Professore" (The Professor), was born on 20 December 1941 in Ottaviano , a village in the hinterland of Naples . At
6321-489: The 'Ndrangheta by the Calabrian 'Ndranghetisti, Carmine Alvaro and Umberto Bellocco, who were incarcerated with him in Porto Azzurro. During the NCO's highest point of expansion, Camorra boss, Michele Zaza had to pay Cutolo's organisation US$ 400,000 for the right to carry on operating in contraband cigarettes. However, no hierarchy between Camorra gangs or stable spheres of influence had been created, and no gang leader
6468-526: The 1911–12 trial, Fabroni gave testimony on how complicated it was to successfully prosecute the Camorra: "The Camorrist has no political ideals. He exploits the elections and the elected for gain. The leaders distribute bands throughout the town, and they have recoursed to violence to obtain the vote of the electors for the candidates whom they have determined to support. Those who refuse to vote as instructed are beaten, slashed with knives, or kidnapped. All this
6615-685: The 1980s, the Camorra has taken over the handling of waste disposal in the region of Campania . By December 1999, all regional landfills had reached capacity. Reports in 2008 stated that the crisis was caused at least in part by the Camorra, which created a lucrative business in the municipal waste disposal business, mostly in the triangle of death . With the complicity of industrial companies, heavy metals, industrial waste , and chemicals and household waste are frequently mixed together, then dumped near roads and burned to avoid detection, leading to severe soil and air pollution. According to Giacomo D'Alisa et al., "the situation worsened during this period as
6762-422: The 19th century Camorra and reconstructed the old Camorristic ritual of initiation. He took great care in making the ritual a binding social practise. In his cell, he created a ceremony in which the initiate received the award of the primo regalo (first gift) also called abbraccio (embrace) or fiore (flower). He infused the old Camorristic traditions with Catholicism and reconstituted the ritual of initiation of
6909-408: The Camorra and camorristi were no longer local gangs living off theft and extortion; they had a fixed structure and some kind of hierarchy. Another qualitative leap was the agreement between the liberal opposition and the Camorra, following the defeat of the 1848 revolution . The liberals realised that they needed popular support to overthrow the king. They turned to the Camorra and paid them because
7056-437: The Camorra control the milk and fish industries, the coffee trade, and over 2,500 bakeries in Naples. In 1983, Italian law enforcement estimated that there were about a dozen Camorra clans. By 1987, the estimate had risen to 26, and in the following year to 32. 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
7203-469: The Camorra diversified their illegal waste disposal strategy: 1) transporting and dumping hazardous waste in the countryside by truck; 2) dumping waste in illegal caves or holes; 3) mixing toxic waste with textiles to avoid explosions and then burning it; and 4) mixing toxic with urban waste for disposal in landfills and incinerators ." A Camorra member, Nunzio Perella was arrested in 1992, and began collaborating with authorities; he had stated "the rubbish
7350-412: The Camorra more resilient when top leaders are arrested or killed, as new clans and organisations emerge from the remnants of old ones. Clan leader Pasquale Galasso stated in court, "Campania can get worse because you could cut into a Camorra group, but another ten could emerge from it." In the 1970s and 1980s, Raffaele Cutolo made an unsuccessful attempt to unify the Camorra families in the manner of
7497-431: The Carabinieri police, the three were captured in small villas on the coast of Naples. All three had been on Italy's 100 top most wanted list. Police seized assets valued at over 100 million euros and also weapons, including two AK-47 assault rifles that may have been used in the shooting of six Africans on 18 September 2008. Police found pistols, Carabinieri uniforms and other outfits that were used to disguise members of
SECTION 50
#17327801912247644-549: The Giuliano clan had been in good terms with the NCO until the first half of 1979. The clan was also under such bad terms with Michele Zaza that it launched an attack against his nephew Pasquale in December 1979. Another Camorra clan leader named Luigi Vollaro aka "'o Califfo" (the Caliph) had first raised the idea of an anti-Cutolo alliance with the Giuliano clan boss, Luigi Giuliano in 1979, following Cutolo's demand to receive
7791-462: The Giuliano gang members unloading the cigarettes. On Christmas Eve, the gang's leader, Luigi Giuliano, was also wounded in an attack. The clash, which had occurred in a period of growing tension, led to the formation of the Nuova Famiglia (NF) to contrast Cutolo's predominant NCO, consisting of Zaza, the Nuvoletta's and Antonio Bardellino from Casal Di Principe (the so-called "Casalesi"). It
7938-479: The Mafia. The individual gangs of the NF alliance had the added advantage of being less notorious than Cutolo's NCO. The NF were initially less affected by police crackdowns and investigations and were therefore able to carry the attack to the NCO, although the NF had suffered its own massive crackdown in 1984. Camorra The Camorra ( Italian: [kaˈmɔrra] ; Neapolitan: [kaˈmorrə] )
8085-548: The NCO bombed houses in Portici owned by men working in the contraband cigarette trade for the Zaza brothers. This was soon followed by retaliatory acts from the rival Nuova Famiglia. The two men who had tried to encroach on the Zaza's patch were shot and a car bomb was planted outside Cutolo's family home in Ottaviano. From 1980 to 1983, a bloody war raged in and around Naples, which left several hundred dead and severely weakened
8232-467: The NCO had some 7000 armed associates in 1980. While the traditional Camorristic families held territorial powers and the consequent responsibility over their controlled areas, the NCO had no qualms over breaking the established social fabric by extorting shopkeepers, small factories and businesses, and building contractors. In its quest for cash, it even targeted individuals such as landlords, lawyers and professionals. The NCO's protection racket even included
8379-651: The NCO on the model of the 'Ndrangheta, its internal codes and rituals. The NCO also established strong ties with the Apulian Sacra Corona Unita and the Roman Banda della Magliana , two other criminal organizations that did not directly operate in Campania. The organisation was unique in the history of the Camorra in that it was highly centralised and possessed a rudimentary form of ideology. For example, he publicly declared that children were not to be kidnapped or mistreated and allegedly arranged
8526-545: The NCO openly hostile to the Sicilian Mafia and other Camorra clans, and Cutolo consequently developed a long-standing alliance with the 'Ndrangheta, who had no intentions or designs in either Naples or Campania. Cutolo had strong ties with the 'Ndrangheta. According to some pentiti, Cutolo's career started with his affiliation with the 'Ndrangheta, supported by important bosses such as Giuseppe Piromalli , Paolo De Stefano , and Mammoliti. Cutolo based his organisation of
8673-413: The NCO protection on all their activities, including a percentage for each carton of cigarettes smuggled into Naples. This practice came to be known as ICA (Imposta Camorra Aggiunta – or Camorristic Sale Tax), mimicking the state VAT sale tax IVA (Imposta sul Valore Aggiunto). For instance, Michele Zaza , the biggest Neapolitan cigarette smuggler, was reported to have paid the NCO more than 4 billion lire in
8820-500: The NCO surpassed the family structure of the urban Camorra. The NCO was an open structure with new members incorporated at a rate of 1,000 per year. Membership was open to everyone, the primary requisites being swearing loyalty to Cutolo and contributing to the common criminal activities. However, as soon as the organization's business expanded and there was a need for more manpower, recruitment became more aggressive and later, even mandatory. In prison, people were forced to become members of
8967-414: The NCO. Failure to do so would often result in the murder of the unwilling prisoner. The organization was a federation of different gangs, with their own territorial areas of action, but hierarchically ordered and tightly controlled by Raffaele Cutolo. A document found on pentito, Pasquale D'Amico, described the organization as a "Door-to-door sales business, specializing in underwear and lingerie". Cutolo
SECTION 60
#17327801912249114-486: The NCO. It had its root causes in two main events: the rapid growth of two distinct types of Camorra gangs and the profound political and financial instability created by the November 1980 earthquake . The war soon became a straightforward battle for power which was fueled by the billions pouring in from Rome for earthquake reconstruction. For instance, the highest number of deaths occurred in the 1981–82 period, when most of
9261-458: The NCO. On August 17, 1981, under Cutolo's orders Barra organized an ambush to kill Milanese crime boss and Cosa Nostra associate, Francis Turatello aka "Faccia D'Angelo" (Angel Face) in the courtyard of Badu 'e Carros , the high security prison in Nuoro , Sardinia . Barra was assisted in the murder by three well known assassins, Salvatore Maltese, Antonino Faro and Vincenzo Andraous. Turatello
9408-420: The NF began using the NCO's own tactics against them, i.e., high visibility, speed and brutal violence. In an act reminiscent of both Italian neo-fascist and left-wing terrorist groups, they sent messages to the press signed, "Nuclei Armati Anti-Cutoliani" (Armed Nucleus Anti-Cutolo) or "Giustizieri Campani" (Avengers from Campania) complete with their new slogans "Let's slay the coto-lette (literally porkchops,
9555-485: The Neapolitan fruit market. To this end, Cutolo created a structured and hierarchical organization, in stark contrast to the traditional Camorra clans which are usually fragmented. The members of the NCO were often referred to by rival Camorristi and Italian law enforcement as "Cutoliani" . According to the Italian Justice Department, by 1981 the NCO had become the strongest Camorra clan and one of
9702-659: The Puca clan and nephew of Giuseppe Puca , was sentenced to life in prison. Puca is held responsible for the murder of Francesco Verde, known as ‘o negus, then leader of the Verde clan, happened in 2007. Between the end of the 1980s and the 1990s, the Verde clan fought with the Puca and Ranucci clans, a clash to which numerous murders were attributed. In October 2019, the Direzione Investigativa Antimafia seized €1.5 million belonging to Annalisa De Martino,
9849-494: The Section of Criminal Police cites "impressive results" against the Camorra in recent years, yet the Camorra continues to grow in power. In 1998, police took a leading Camorra figure into custody. Francesco Schiavone was caught hiding in a secret apartment near Naples behind a sliding wall of granite. The mayor of Naples, Antonio Bassolino, compared the arrest to that of Sicilian Mafia chief Salvatore Riina in 1993. Schiavone
9996-485: The Sicilian Mafia, by forming the New Organized Camorra ( Nuova Camorra Organizzata or NCO ). Drive-by shootings by camorristi often result in casualties among the local population but such episodes are often difficult to investigate because of the widespread practise of omertà (code of silence). According to a report published in 2007 by Confesercenti, the second-largest Italian trade organisation,
10143-763: The Sicilian Mafia, the 'Ndrangheta and southern Italy's other organised gangs, in numbers, in economic power and in ruthless violence. In 2004 and 2005, the Di Lauro clan and the so-called Scissionisti di Secondigliano fought a bloody feud which came to be known in the Italian press as the Scampia feud . The result was over 100 street killings. At the end of October 2006 a new series of murders took place in Naples between 20 competing clans, costing 12 lives in 10 days. The Interior Minister, Giuliano Amato , decided to send more than 1,000 extra police and carabinieri to Naples to fight crime and protect tourists. Despite this, in
10290-562: The age of 18, on 24 February 1963, he committed his first homicide and was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, reduced to 24 years after appeal. He was sent to Poggioreale , Naples’ prison. Entering the prison world on a murder conviction made Cutolo a "tough guy". In prison Cutolo learned the rules of the criminal world: he became a man of honour, paid respect to more powerful inmates, and started gathering personal prestige because of his striking personality. He never lost sight of his ambition and his desire to become one of
10437-644: The alliance. The historical female boss Maria Licciardi managed to escape from the arrest in the operation, and is now considered a fugitive. Seven members of the organization were arrested in Spain, Netherlands, South America and in the Balkans , places where they were running illicit business on behalf of the Alliance. On 12 July 2019, the Italian police confiscated €300 million, including 600 houses, lands, 16 cars and bank accounts belonging to Antonio Passarelli,
10584-516: The arrest of Antonio Orlando, suspected of being a major figure in the Camorra. In February 2019, Ciro Rinaldi, boss of the Rinaldi clan , was arrested in a house in the region of San Pietro a Patierno , he is accused of the double murder of Raffaele Cepparulo, member of a small gang linked to the Mazzarella clan , and Ciro Colonna, an innocent victim. Rinaldi is also considered responsible for
10731-673: The arrival of drugs in Europe. 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 . The latter is an alliance of the Licciardi , Contini and Mallardo clans. The origins of the Camorra are unclear. It may date to the 17th century as
10878-425: The assassination of at least one kidnapper. Perhaps the most potent ideological weapon was the cult of violence, which sometimes bordered on a kind of death wish, as Cutolo once wrote: "the value of a life doesn’t consist of its length but in the use made of it; often people live a long time without living very much. Consider this, my friends, as long as you are on this earth everything depends on your will-power, not on
11025-449: The biggest bosses of the Neapolitan underworld. Cutolo had established himself as a ringleader, when Antonio Spavone aka "'o Malommo" (The Badman), was transferred to Poggioreale prison. He challenged Spavone to a knife fight in the courtyard (a practise called ' o dichiaramento , the declaration), but Spavone refused. The challenged boss allegedly limited himself to a reply: "Today's young men want to die young by whatever means." Spavone
11172-412: The boss's sister, could easily communicate with him in prison. Cutolo had an ideology, another factor that appealed to rootless and badly educated youths. He founded the NCO in his home town Ottaviano on 24 October 1970, the day of Cutolo's patron saint, San Raffaele, and the organization used a statute of rules and regulations that were deliberately meant to have a striking resemblance to the Camorra of
11319-418: The businessman trying to win a contract to a worker looking for a job in a factory; from a professional who wants more clients or greater recognition to somebody looking for an office job; from somebody from the provinces who has come to Naples to buy some goods to somebody who wants to emigrate to America; they all find somebody stepping into their path, and nearly all made use of them. Scholars dispute whether
11466-666: The chaotic power vacuum between 1799 and 1815, when the Parthenopean Republic was proclaimed on the wave of the French Revolution and the Bourbon Restoration . The first official mention of the Camorra as an organisation dates from 1820, when police records detail a disciplinary meeting of the Camorra, a tribunal known as the Gran Mamma . That year the first written statute of the Camorra,
11613-427: The city council. When Barra's younger brother was shot in the knee-caps by a rival gang, they were able to find him a job inside City Hall, after having provided him with a governmental pension for an alleged permanent infirmity. Barra's arrest in 1979 did not diminish his influence inside and outside of prison. On the contrary, he established himself as the second in command of the organizational executive board inside
11760-506: The clan's power and structure. The Camorra's main businesses are drug trafficking , racketeering , counterfeiting , and money laundering . It is also not unusual for Camorra clans to infiltrate the politics of their respective areas. Since the early 1980s and its involvement in the drug trafficking business, the Camorra has acquired a strong presence in other European countries, particularly Spain. Usually, Camorra clans maintain close contact with South American drug cartels, which facilitates
11907-402: The community, claimed the role of protector of the community and assumed a strong regional identity based on criminal values. He accused the Sicilian Mafia of wanting to colonize Naples and the Campania. Cutolo appealed to a Campanian rather than Neapolitan sense of identity, perhaps as a result of his poor peasant background. For instance, Cutolo is once reported as having said: "The day when
12054-503: The courtesy of obliging clerks from various municipalities in the area, especially Cutolo's municipality in Ottaviano. As the Justice Department discovered in 1983, Cutolo was visited daily from July 1977 to December 1978 by Giuseppe Puca who had a document from Ottaviano's municipality certifying him to be Cutolo's first cousin. He had also received three visits from another NCO member, Giuseppe Romano, one as Cutolo's brother-in-law, one as compare and finally as first cousin. The NCO became
12201-610: The end of the 1970s, two types of Camorra gangs began to take shape: the NCO type gangs led by Cutolo, which dealt mainly in Cocaine and protection rackets, preserving a strong regional sense of identity, and the business oriented clans allied with the Mafia which were led by the likes of Michele Zaza, Carmine Alfieri, Lorenzo Nuvoletta, etc., who dealt in cigarettes and heroin, but soon moved on to invest in real estate and construction firms. Cutolo's NCO became more powerful by encroaching and taking over other group's territories. The NCO
12348-554: The expansion of opportunities for illegal activities, which caused further barriers to solve the waste crisis. In November 2013, a demonstration by tens of thousands of people was held in Naples in protest against the pollution caused by the Camorra's control of refuse disposal. Over a twenty-year period, it was alleged, about ten million tonnes of industrial waste had been illegally dumped, with cancers caused by pollution increasing by 40–47%. The Camorra has proven to be an extremely difficult organisation to fight within Italy. During
12495-465: The final outcome was not what he had planned and this arrangement proved to be an unstable one. Soon the local criminals tried to free themselves from the masters. Cutolo's relentless defeats in the wars against the Nuova Famiglia in Campania weakened the hegemony and prestige of the NCO which eventually collapsed in its entirety. Soon, this affiliation with the NCO was dissolved and replaced by
12642-438: The first NCO member to become an informant. In exchange for greater protection, Barra decided to reveal details of NCO murders, and went on to testify against Cutolo and numerous NCO members during the three-year-long Maxi Trials which resulted from the NCO's crackdown in 1983. Barra's testimony along with those of Giovanni Pandico , Pasquale D'Amico , Mario Incarnato , etc. were found reliable and convincing enough to become
12789-624: The first criminal activities on the outside which would be directly controlled by Cutolo from within the penitentiary system. The NCO developed two parallel structures, one inside the penitentiary system called "cielo coperto" (covered sky), and the other outside the penitentiary system called "cielo scoperto" (clear sky). Since Cutolo and many NCO members were serving life sentences, communication between these two structures were of utmost importance. To retain his leadership, Cutolo needed to relay his orders to NCO members outside in an effective and reliable way, while simultaneously insuring that some of
12936-408: The first three months after the imposition of the racket. Raffaele Cutolo decided to expand the NCO to the neighboring region of Apulia in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This was precipitated by a number of factors. Firstly, a number of Camorristi had been incarcerated or forced to resettle in Apulia. In the 1970s, a large number of NCO members had been relocated from their prisons in Campania to
13083-469: The following year there were over 120 murders. In 2001, the businessman Domenico Noviello from Caserta testified against a Camorra extortionist and subsequently received police protection. In 2008 he refused further protection and was killed one week later. In recent years, various Camorra clans have been allegedly using alliances with Nigerian drug gangs and the Albanian mafia . Augusto La Torre ,
13230-658: The former La Torre clan boss who became a pentito , is married to an Albanian woman; the first foreign pentito, a Tunisian, admitted to being involved with the feared Casalesi clan of Casal di Principe . The first town in which the Camorra sanctioned stewardship by a foreign clan was Castel Volturno , which was given to the Rapaces, clans from Lagos and Benin City in Nigeria. This allowed them to traffic cocaine and women in sexual slavery before sending them across Europe. Since
13377-482: The former partner of the boss Giuseppe Gallo. The Gallo clan has control over illegal activities such as extortion, drug trafficking and money laundering in the areas of Boscotrecase , Boscoreale and Torre Annunziata . De Martino was considered to be in charge of the financial management of the organization. On 23 October 2019, the Italian police dismantled the Montescuro clan, arresting 23 important members of
13524-447: The heads of the major Neapolitan families became power brokers in local and national political contexts, providing Neapolitan politicians with broad electoral support, and in return receiving benefits for their constituency. Compared to the Sicilian Mafia 's pyramidal structure, the Camorra has more of a 'horizontal' structure. As a result, Camorra clans act independently of one another and are more prone to feuding. This, however, makes
13671-470: The illegal trades while the NCO lent financial resources and support demanding 40% of all profits derived from illegal activities. The local criminals were involved only during particularly difficult operations, and then contacts were established directly with single individuals or small groups active for some time in smuggling which for strategic reasons was concentrated mainly in the Brindisi area. However,
13818-409: The last century. In such a way, Cutolo created the most powerful organization ever to exist in the Neapolitan hinterland. Using his personal appeal and almost magic charisma, he was able to achieve this single-handedly. The NCO strongholds were the towns to the east of Naples, such as Ottaviano . From its start, the NCO advocated using illegal resources available in the territory for the betterment of
13965-416: The law and public trust. The inquiry introduced the terminology of "high Camorra", as having a bourgeois character, and distinct from the plebeian Camorra proper. The two groups were in close contact through the figure of the intermediary ( faccendiere ). From the rich industrialist who wants a clear road into politics or administration to the small shopowner who wants to ask for a reduction of taxes; from
14112-524: The list of the most dangerous fugitives. Rapprese was wanted since February 2018, accused of the attempted murder of Antonio Marrazzo, brother of the head of the Marazzo clan, happened in December 2006. Pasquale Barra Barra sported numerous nicknames, both self-appointed and those given to him. The first one was 'o Sturiente ("the Student"), which was given to him by Cutolo during his years as
14259-416: The local Pugliese prisons resulting in massive prison overcrowding . Furthermore, by the early 1980s a new smuggling route from Yugoslavia had been opened, and Apulia became a crucial juncture of this trade. Apulia's geographical features were of great interest for possible exploitation of its strategic potential, since it had a particularly extensive coastal area, a territory which was conveniently linked to
14406-423: The local authorities. 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. They granted privileges and protection, and intervened in favour of their clients, in return for their silence and connivance against local authorities and the police. With their political connections,
14553-405: The main motorways of Central-Northern Italy, and several mid sized airports. The absence of any local criminal association made Apulia a natural place for border crossings by Camorra clans who had the opportunity to exploit a particularly lucrative market there, free from any threatening local competition. The NCO members soon attempted to install themselves at the highest levels of power inside
14700-504: The massive hoarding, the NF was also greatly benefited by deterritorialization of the Camorra underworld in Naples. The earthquake had totally destroyed all social control, due to the displacement of people, cafes, small businesses and the cordoning of social blocks. The anti-Cutolo clans began to restructure themselves on the model of the NCO. Lacking any territory, they came to depend on open space, swapping their fortified positions for fast cars, motorcycles and mobile firepower. In this way,
14847-473: The men of the Prince. Now tell me how these people think that they can survive, and anyway I am waiting to cross the paths of some of these conspirators, because I want to show them how much Alias is worth. Be calm, they will pay with their last drop of blood. " In just a couple of years, Barra had amassed an impressive list of killings, the most famous of which were the three deadly assaults that occurred during
14994-535: The most powerful criminal organizations in the nation, providing a living for at least 200,000 people in the Neapolitan area alone. It was distinctly hostile to the Sicilian Mafia , but had an alliance with numerous Calabrian 'Ndrangheta clans, in addition to the Nuova Grande Camorra Pugliese, which was the precursor to the Sacra Corona Unita in Apulia . It was eventually supplanted by
15141-595: The most prominent, suffered hard blows in 2019, with the arrests of most of its leaders and important figures. On 21 August 2019, Giuseppe Chirico, included in the list of the most dangerous fugitives in Italy, was arrested in the Ciampino airport , where he landed after a brief holiday abroad. Chirico is considered a prominent member of the Scarpa, linked to the powerful Gallo-Cavalieri clan from Torre Annunziata , dedicated in particular to international drug trafficking. He
15288-497: The most violent gang members from its various criminal gangs, who were ready to do the NCO's bidding by wreaking destruction and violence when required. It was a ten-man team, capable of quick response to any emergency. It had some extremely powerful cars at its disposal which could cover the entire area of Naples in less than an hour. Its firing power was in the order of 10,000 bullets per minute. Cutolo insisted that if other criminal groups wanted to keep their business, they had to pay
15435-509: The murder of Vincenzo De Bernardo, also linked to the Mazzarellas. At the time of his arrest, his clan was considered one of the most powerful clans of the Camorra, having all the eastern area of the city of Naples under its control and having as allies the Secondigliano Alliance . On 18 September 2019, Ciro Rinaldi was sentenced to life imprisonment, considered to be the mastermind behind the murders of Cepparulo and Colonna. According to
15582-405: The next generation. 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. Instead, it has had to rely on limited law enforcement activity in an environment that has a long history of tolerance and acceptance of criminality and is governed by the omertà. Despite the overwhelming magnitude of
15729-403: The number of years you have lived." Through his book of thoughts and poems, Poesie e pensieri and his many interviews with journalists, Cutolo was able to create a strong sense of identity amongst his members. The book was published in Naples in 1980, but never distributed to the public. The book, containing 235 pages of poems and pictures, was seized by the police and censored as an "apology of
15876-414: The old Camorra bosses and gave the youngsters a structure to belong to: "The new Camorra must have a statute, a structure, an oath, a complete ceremony, a ritual that must excite people to the point that they would risk their lives for this organization." Cutolo was revered by his soldiers. They called him Prince and kissed his left hand as if he were a bishop. Cutolo spent a great amount of time researching
16023-478: The operation. During the same week, a separate operation netted 26 additional suspects in Caserta . All were believed to belong to the powerful Camorra crime syndicate that operates in and around Naples. The suspects were charged with extortion and weapons possession. In some cases, the charges also included murder and robbery. Giuseppina Nappa, the 48-year-old wife of a jailed crime boss, was among those arrested. She
16170-473: The opportune moment. As his following grew, he also began to exercise a monopoly of violence within a number of prisons, thus increasing his power. By the early 1970s, Cutolo had become so powerful that he was able to decide which of his followers would be moved to which jails, use a prison governor's telephone to make calls anywhere in the world, and allegedly even slap the prison governor on one occasion for daring to search his cell. Another key bond Cutolo created
16317-533: The organisation. The clan was headed by the elderly boss Carmine Montescuro, nicknamed 'Zì Menuzzo' , a leader of remarkable criminal charisma, who for at least 20 years played the role of mediator in the wars between various clans. According to the investigations, due to his mediation skills, he was able to put the Missos , the Mazzarellas and the Continis at the same table when the war between their organisations
16464-504: The organizing principle of a new kinship system based on Comparaggio , first cousins and allied kin, which was formally written into the municipal registry by obliging local bureaucrats. Once the first NCO group became operative and started generating profits, Cutolo established the soccorso verde (green cross) to help the NCO recruit new members from the prison population, providing them with clothes, lawyers, legal advice, money for themselves and their families, and even luxury items. There
16611-424: The people of Campania understand that it is better to eat a slice of bread as a free man than to eat a steak as a slave is the day when Campania will win." He talked about the need to re-establish respect for the people of this region: "We have to renew the ancient splendors of Naples and the Campania. We have to give back its destiny to our region, represented by the symbol of Vesuvio." It was this approach that made
16758-597: The poverty of Naples and the region, many camorristi emigrated to the United States. The Camorra received another blow with the Cuocolo Trial (1911–1912). The trial was ostensibly to prosecute those charged with the murder on 6 June 1906 of the Camorra boss Gennaro Cuocolo and his wife, who were suspected of being police spies. The main investigator, Carabinieri Captain Carlo Fabbroni, transformed
16905-444: The prince. ". The murder resulted in the assassins being more loyal to Cutolo than to anyone else. By involving both Faro and Maltese in the murder, Barra hoped to share responsibility with the Sicilian Mafia over the murder. The rationale for this was that the Mafia would never allow a killing of which it did not approve. However, the two assassins were from an Eastern Sicilian family headed by Giuseppe Calderone , not involved with
17052-486: The prison authorities had an unintended consequence. The courtyard soon became a battlefield. Old rancors, impending vendettas and gang feuds exploded and were resolved in the bloodiest ways. Among many assassinations, Barra personally killed three rival NF members. These hits as well as many others greatly increased Barra's prestige and standing among the other NCO members. However, it was another murder which would eventually lead to his downfall and subsequent defection from
17199-487: The problem, law enforcement officials continue their pursuit. The Italian police are coordinating their efforts with Europol and Interpol to conduct special operations against the Camorra. The Carabinieri and the Financial Police ( Guardia di Finanza ) are also fighting criminal activities related to tax evasion, border controls, and money laundering. Prefect Gennaro Monaco, Deputy Chief of Police and Chief of
17346-760: The profits generated by the expansion be delivered to prisons so that he could expand his recruitment drive. The peculiar conditions at Poggioreale prison which included its strategic location in the centre of Naples Western District and continuous flow of people such as parole violators and relatives of prisoners, to and from the prison made it possible for the NCO to successfully coordinate criminal activities from their centralized location. The NCO used this continuous flow to bring money and goods to prison and to send directives to their associates for outside operations. The relatives who could visit daily were being used as primary couriers, but when they were unavailable, some of these associates would be certified on paper as kin through
17493-409: The reconstruction contracts were being assigned. The number of gangland murders soon grew to epic proportions. During this period, some Neapolitans would place illegal and macabre bets, in a system controlled by the Camorra itself, on whether there would be more gangland murders than days over the coming year. Between 16 and 19 June 1983, police arrested a thousand members of the NCO. The earthquake had
17640-559: The region of Milan . They took Turatello's murder as an insult to their honor and reacted angrily. They held Cutolo responsible for the murder and threatened to immediately retaliate against him. Faced with certain defeat against the Mafia, with threats against his life already carried out, Cutolo chose to dissociate himself from the murder. Through his sister, Cutolo told the Sicilians that he had never wanted Turatello killed and that Barra had acted out on his own. He claimed that Barra
17787-459: The reports, Rinaldi reportedly ordered Cepparulo's death believing Cepparulo was planning to kill him to give "pleasure" to the Mazzarella clan, historical enemies of the Rinaldi clan. In March 2019, Marco Di Lauro , the second most wanted man in Italy, was arrested after spending 14 years on the run. He is the fourth son of ex-Camorra boss Paolo Di Lauro . In 2010, an informant said that he
17934-592: The ruling corporate group of the Sicilian Mafia based in Western Sicily. As a result, the whole plot backfired. Turatello had close and powerful contacts within the Sicilian Mafia. Frank Coppola, a powerful Detroit Partnership figure in Detroit, Michigan, was his godfather and Luciano Leggio , the head of the Corleonesi faction of the Sicilian Mafia had himself put Turatello in charge of all drug trade in
18081-544: The same time 29 suspected Camorra members were also arrested in Rome. The arrests in the Campania region demonstrate that the police are not allowing the Camorra to operate without intervention. However, progress remains slow, and these minor victories have done little to loosen the Camorra's grip on Naples and the surrounding regions. In 2008, Italian police arrested three members of the Camorra crime syndicate on 30 September 2008. According to Gianfrancesco Siazzu, commander of
18228-426: The state bureaucracy as being like a field it has to harvest and exploit. Its tools are cunning, nerve and violence. Its strength comes from the streets. And it is rightly considered to be more dangerous, because it has re-established the worst form of despotism by founding a regime based on bullying. The high camorra has replaced free will with impositions, it has nullified individuality and liberty, and it has defrauded
18375-501: The story on Miguel de Cervantes ’ short story Rinconete and Cortadillo . An Italian translation in 1847 spread the myth in Italy. More likely, the Camorra developed in the 18th century. 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. The first official use of camorra as
18522-495: The traditional Camorra clans which used slow and static methods of conducting their business, the gangs grouped inside the NCO displayed an open-ended dynamic force that depended on speed and movement. They usually came into the city from elsewhere, from the undifferentiated territories of the countryside; their men spread out across open space, relying on fast cars, motorcycles and mobile firepower instead of fortified positions. The NCO even had an extraterritorial hit team composed of
18669-595: The traditional Camorra. The NCO has often been described as the "expression of a kind of collective mass movement of the violent and disbanded youth of Campania". However, an historian once declared the NCO to be just another "gangsters association" which had usurped the old and to some extent, respectful name of the Camorra. When the journalist Giorgio Rossi interviewed some of the young NCO members from Ottaviano, he recorded several testimonies of how willing were they to die for their boss and organization. One young picciotto said: "You ask me why I do what I do. The answer
18816-465: The trial into one against the Camorra as a whole, intending to use it to strike the final blow to the Camorra. The trial attracted much attention among newspapers and the general public, both in Italy and the United States, including by Pathé's Gazette . The hearings began in 1911. After 17 months, the often tumultuous proceedings ended with a guilty verdict on 8 July 1912 against defendants who included 27 leading Camorra bosses. They were sentenced to
18963-487: The two warring clans, favouring the Nuova Famiglia, which included a lot of former allies. Many high-ranking Sicilian mafiosi such as Leoluca Bagarella , Bernardo Provenzano and Totò Riina repeatedly tried to eliminate Cutolo. The war left Cutolo more exposed in terms of notoriety. He had not expected such a strong backlash from his adversaries, and his strong hostility to the Sicilian Mafia gave them another tactical advantage, in that they were able to obtain assistance from
19110-510: The utmost cruelty and pitiless way in which he killed his enemies. His many murder convictions earned him a life sentence from the Italian court. He pursued his newly appointed mission with a fervent religious zeal and he became almost suicidal in his attempts to eliminate his adversaries. He never worried about getting caught. In fact, some of his letters sent to other members of the NCO attest to his thirst for blood. He once wrote to Marco Medda, an NCO board executive: " Brother, I beg you to give
19257-406: Was a regular procedure for this financial allocation to prisoners. From the very beginning, Cutolo had his men set aside 500,000 lire from each successful operation in a fund for the prison population. This fund was distributed to inmates belonging to the NCO all over Italy through wire service by Raffaele's sister Rosetta Cutolo and some NCO lieutenants. In an attempt to control the entire region,
19404-452: Was able to break the circle of traditional power held by the families. Cutolo's organization was just too aggressive and violent to be resisted by any individual families. Other Camorra families initially were too weakened, too divided, and simply too intimidated by the NCO. Their territories were indefensible against an organization like the NCO, which raided and rules large areas, not by constant control, but by violence and quick action. Unlike
19551-671: Was at its peak in the early 2000s. Montescuro also had a good relationship with Marco Mariano, boss of the Mariano clan in the 1990s. Despite his advanced age, the Court of Naples authorized his arrest and transfer to prison; however, after less than two weeks, he was transferred from jail to house arrest for health reasons. Montescuro was also known for his passion for gambling, and was often in Monte Carlo , where he reportedly spent large amounts of money. In November 2019, Raffaele Romano,
19698-463: Was attended by the NF leaders and the NCO was represented by Rosetta Cutolo and Vincenzo Casillo. Representatives from the Sicilian Mafia were also present in the meeting. A shaky peace was established, only to be broken on 14 February when, during the confusion provoked by a strong earth tremor, NCO members in Naples' Poggioreale prison killed three adversaries. A more serious incident occurred in May, when
19845-470: Was formed as a federation of Anti-Cutolo Camorra clans, and copied the organizational structure of the NCO. In stark contrast to the NCO's Campania-based model, the NF sought to impose a more traditional conduct based on the Sicilian code of conduct. The attacks continued through January 1981, until a summit meeting was called at the end of the month in a Roman hotel, under the mediation of Antonio Spavone. It
19992-507: Was from within Naples' Poggioreale prison that Cutolo built the NCO. He began by befriending young inmates unfamiliar with jail, giving them a sense of identity and worth, so much so that when they were released they would send Cutolo "flowers" (i.e. money), which enabled him to increase his network. He helped poorer prisoners by buying food for them from the jail store, or arranging for food to be sent in from outside. In such ways, Cutolo created many "debts" or "rain cheques" which he would cash at
20139-444: Was headed by the brothers, Specidato and Gurrieri. The NGCP was created with the sole objective to unite all the groups in the region and constitute an autonomous, parallel organization with respect to the NCO, though still subject to it economically. Initially, there were no problems between the native criminals and the NCO. Their working relationship continued for years with no undue interference. At first local criminals were managing
20286-418: Was in fact, a former friend who had turned into a crazed out of control assassin. Moreover, he promised to collaborate with them in taking care of Barra. Barra was not only left alone to fend off the reprisals of the Sicilians, but now he also had to watch out against violent attacks from the other NCO members. Barra had barely escaped two attacks and was completely stressed out by being on the lookout 24 hours
20433-541: Was likely to agree to taking a back seat without making a fight of it. In 1978, Zaza formed a ‘honourable brotherhood’ (Onorata fratellanza) in an attempt to get the Mafia-aligned Camorra gangs to oppose Cutolo and his NCO, although without much success. In mid 1979, the NCO took on the Giuliano clan, which had traditionally controlled the Forcella, or "Casbah" area in the centre of Naples. Prior to this,
20580-494: Was physically impressive with a lean and athletic build. When Cutolo set up the NCO at their hometown on October 24, 1970, Barra became his second in command and immediately took charge of reinforcing all intimidation, extortion and racketeering activities within their territory. He became a full-time killer for the organization, favoring the use of knives and butchery tools over guns and automatic weapons to carry out his hits. The relationship between Barra and Cutolo had always been
20727-606: Was regular payments to the families of NCO members sent to prison, thereby guaranteeing the allegiance of both prisoners and their families. Cutolo was soon able to gather under him a small group of prisoners, the nucleus of which would later become the leadership of the NCO. They were Antonino Cuomo aka "'o Maranghiello" (The Cudgel), Pasquale Barra aka "'o Nimale" (The Animal), Giuseppe Puca aka "'o Giappone" (The Japanese), Pasquale D'Amico aka "'o Cartunaro" (The Cardboard picker) and Vincenzo Casillo aka "'o Nirone" (The Big Black). After being released, they would set up
20874-418: Was released from prison shortly after this event. From his prison cell, Cutolo ordered the murder of Spavone. A hitman, allegedly Cutolo's friend, shot him in the face from short range with a shotgun. Spavone survived the ambush, but the shotgun blast left considerable damage to his facial structure, which required plastic surgery . Spavone immediately resigned from his highly visible role as a Camorra boss. It
21021-612: Was responsible for at least four murders. In June 2019, the Italian police arrested more than 120 members of the Secondigliano Alliance, the alliance created by the Licciardi , Contini and Mallardo clans, in an anti-Camorra operation. The police also confiscated €130 million. Among those who were arrested were the wives of the bosses of the Bosti , Mallardo, Licciardi and Contini clans, but also their lieutenants, children, grandchildren and entrepreneurs who worked for
21168-457: Was so nervous that my own liver rotted because i did not have a chance yet to meet and greet these scumbags. I am telling you: be calm. I will take care of them with the help of the people who love the prince (Cutolo) for life and death. " When one of Cutolo's major enemies was arrested, Barra wrote directly to Cutolo: " My dearest compare, you have heard about the arrest of that big don. He peed in his pants because he thought that he got caught by
21315-515: Was the CEO . There was a vice-chief executive at large (Vincenzo Casillo replacing Cutolo for emergency decisions, since Cutolo's reaction time was delayed by his imprisonment), an executive board (on which sat the members of the original group), then area managers, branch managers, and finally, salesmen in charge of collecting the weekly money from their rackets. Outside of prison, there was an executive meeting every fifteen days, where Rosetta Cutolo, who as
21462-556: Was unable to escape the ambush. Barra and Andraous held Turatello, while Faro and Maltese stabbed him sixty times. In the ensuing confusion from the attack, Andraus was also wounded and would later receive minor surgery in the prison infirmary. Among the two Sicilian hitmen, Barra had come to know Faro well. Faro and Maltese were from Catania , Sicily . Faro was 28 years old at the time of Turatello's murder and by then, had already been convicted of five murders. Barra once wrote to Cutolo about him: " Catania, with its sons, must be hugged by
21609-637: Was wanted since January 2018 and was using a fake identity at the time of his arrest. 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 . Ferro, according to investigations, led the Ferro faction of the clan since the death of his brother Rosario Ferro, known as 'Capatosta, in 1998. Now he will serve two years and five months in prison. In September 2019, Pasquale Puca, known as ‘o minorenne, head of
#223776