The Camorra

For nearly two centuries, the Camorra has changed with Naples and Campania-surviving political upheaval, dictatorship, war, economic transformation and repeated attempts to destroy it. The Camorra: Naples, Clans, Contraband and the Violent Business of Organised Crime traces the documented history of one of Italy's most enduring organised-crime phenomena, from its nineteenth-century roots in prisons, gambling and street protection to post-war black markets, cigarette smuggling and the rise of territorial clans. The story follows Raffaele Cutolo and the Nuova Camorra Organizzata, the bloody struggle against the Nuova Famiglia, the rise of the Casalesi, the Secondigliano Alliance and the Scampia feud. It examines narcotics, extortion, construction, public contracts, counterfeiting, illegal waste disposal, legitimate-business infiltration and the complex relationships between criminals, politics and public administration. But this is not a history written from the viewpoint of the bosses alone. It also examines the innocent victims, entrepreneurs who resisted extortion, journalists, priests, prosecutors, investigators and communities that challenged criminal authority. Drawing clear distinctions between allegation, prosecution and conviction, this fact-focused account explains not only who the Camorra's leading figures were, but how its criminal economy worked, why its organisations repeatedly fragmented and regenerated, and how modern Italian anti-Mafia institutions learned to attack both the people and the wealth behind organised crime. From nineteenth-century Naples to the financial and international networks of the twenty-first century, this is the history of a criminal system that survived by refusing to remain the same. Disclaimer: This book is intended for historical and educational purposes only. It does not promote or glorify criminal activity, and all individuals are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.