The Scampia feud (Italian: La faida di Scampia) or First Scampia feud (Prima faida di Scampia) was a feud between the Camorra gangs in the Neapolitan quartiere of Scampia which broke out in 2004 and 2005. The fight was between the Di Lauro clan, from Secondigliano, and the so-called "secessionists" (Scissionisti di Secondigliano), a breakaway faction in the northern suburbs of Naples that tried to assert its control over drugs and prostitution rackets in the area.[1]
Paolo Di Lauro, head of the Camorra clan that runs the northern suburbs, was in charge of a tightly managed drug empire that imported cocaine and heroin and distributed it through an army of dealers. Di Lauro granted neighborhood ringleaders a certain amount of autonomy in exchange for the monopoly and cuts of the proceeds. He went into hiding on September 23, 2002, as authorities closed in. He left the business to Vincenzo Di Lauro, one of his ten sons. After the first arrest of Vincenzo on April 1, 2004, Cosimo Di Lauro took charge.[2][3]
Cosimo Di Lauro wanted to centralize the drug-dealing operation that had been run as a franchise in which dealers paid the Di Lauros a fee for doing business and were allowed to buy the drugs from any available source.[3] The young Di Lauro removed older gangsters and replaced them with young criminals new to the business. In revolt, a faction now known as the "secessionists" challenged the Di Lauros in October 2004. One of the local dealers, Raffaele Amato, disputed the new rules, fled to Spain and organized a revolt against his former bosses. In Scampia, they are known as the Spaniards. On October 28, 2004, Raffaele Amato ordered the murders of Fulvio Montanino and Claudio Salierno, men who were fiercely loyal to Cosimo Di Lauro. During their funeral three days later, police arrested two men armed with machine guns who were planning to fire on the funeral procession.[3][4] The two organizations fought each other with a brutality that stunned even hardened Carabinieri.[5][failed verification]
On November 21, 2004, 21-year-old Gelsomina Verde was abducted and brutally tortured, probably in an effort to get her to disclose the whereabouts of her former boyfriend, Gennaro Notturno, a Scissionisti clan member. The two had broken up weeks prior to her abduction. She was shot three times in the neck and her body put in a car that was set on fire.[6][7]
Her death caused widespread public revulsion and led to a major crackdown by the authorities.[1] The governor of the Campania region (of which Naples is the capital) Antonio Bassolino said: "This challenge must be met and the state must pay attention." Two days later, Home Secretary Giuseppe Pisanu dispatched 325 extra police to a city that already had a higher ratio of police to people than any other in the country. On the evening of December 7, 2004, an operation involving 1,500 police netted 52 suspected gangsters including Ciro Di Lauro.[1][6]
His brother Cosimo Di Lauro was arrested on January 21, 2005, and the head of one of the rival organization, Raffaele Amato on February 26, 2005.[5][8] On September 16, 2005, police arrested Paolo Di Lauro in a modest apartment in Secondigliano, on the city's poor northern outskirts.[9][10][11] He was sentenced to 30 years for drug trafficking.[12] Two weeks later Paolo Di Lauro publicly kissed Vincenzo Pariante – one of the bosses of the "secessionists" – during a session in court. Investigators interpreted the gesture as a sign that the feud had ended. However, murders continued into 2008.[better source needed][13] Vincenzo Licciardi, the reputed head of the so-called Secondigliano Alliance was arrested in February 2008. He had been on Italy's most wanted list since July 2004.[14]
Second Scampia feud
editThe second Scampia feud (Italian: Seconda faida di Scampia) was an internal conflict in the criminal organization of the Scissionisti di Secondigliano which lasted from August 2012 until December of the same year, with some murders linked to the feud occurring from 2013 to 2014.[citation needed]
Popular culture
editAuthor and journalist Roberto Saviano drew inspiration for his 2006 book Gomorrah from these events, and the book was adapted for the 2008 Italian movie Gomorrah and the spin-off five-season (2014–2021) Sky Atlantic TV series Gomorrah.
References
edit- ^ a b c "Naples police in huge mafia swoop". BBC News. December 7, 2004. Archived from the original on August 13, 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ Wilkinson, Tracey (February 17, 2005). "Gang's Deadly Feud Plagues Naples". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ a b c Williams, Daniel (February 7, 2005). "In Naples, a Mob Family Feud". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 9, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ Hooper, John (December 18, 2004). "Weekends turn bloody in Naples mafia war". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ a b Fisher, Ian (September 17, 2005). "Italian Police Arrest Fugitive Crime Leader in Naples Gang War". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ a b Popham, Peter (December 8, 2004). "'The blood is running': Mafia wars erupt again". The Independent. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ (in Italian) Roberto Saviano sul delitto di Gelsomina Verde Archived December 31, 2008, at the Wayback Machine robertosaviano.it
- ^ "'Naples crime boss' held in Spain". BBC News. February 28, 2005. Archived from the original on May 29, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ Fisher, Ian (September 17, 2005). "Criminal boss is captured in Italy". The New York Times.
- ^ "Napoli, guerra per la droga a Scampia: Arrestato boss Di Lauro "o milionario"". la Repubblica (in Italian). September 16, 2005. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "Napoli: arrestato il boss Paolo Di Lauro". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). September 18, 2005. Archived from the original on April 3, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "Giornata di sangue a Napoli: tre omicidi - Corriere della Sera". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). March 15, 2007. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "Napoli, nuovo agguato di camorra ucciso esponente del clan Di Lauro". la Repubblica (in Italian). March 21, 2007. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "Top Camorra boss nabbed in major blow to Naples crime gang". ItalyMag. February 8, 2008. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011.