The three italian criminal groups can be compared themselves.

But how do they individually compare to some of the individual cartels that practically run Mexico? Are there individual mafia families in the the mafia, camorra or ndrangheta that wield similar power and an excess of wealth? Or would it take the combination of the entire mafia in sicily or Camorra in Naples to equal a cartel as strong as Sinaloa?

In the decade of 1980, there were drug traffickers in Miami who operated on an extremely large scale too who had power and money that I think we only hear rumors about but rarely saw with the Italian American mafia during that same time. Almost as if they were what people believed the American mafia to be. But I do know that the Americans were making decent money with the pizza connection as well so even if they couldn’t compare to the Miami drug kingpins they were still slightly in the mix during that era.

As a side note: I think the Camorra was a lot more powerful when they had families like the Nuvolettas and Zazas at the top. Since those two fell, it seems like they are made up of street gangs and other families that have not been able to operate on the same level as them with the exception of maybe 1 or 2.

Maybe some1 can correct me but I think the Camorra is divided on several leading clans, meaning theres no top admin or boss who control every group.

I think it's a stupid comparison. For drug cartels, the world's drug supply grows right in their backyard. Groups like the Italian Mafia has to ship it across thousands of miles of ocean. Also, I could be wrong, but I think the Camorra is more insidious than ever.

Very true , some of them were even both members of Camorra and Sicilian mafia. Very powerful people and very organized, including Casalesi. But as Toodoped said , today Camorra is several leading clans , a lot of violence , alliances come and go every few years and old clans disappear while new ones appear all the time. Its chaos in Naples.

I think that's always been status quo in Naples, but in the countryside the Camorra clans are much more sophisticated and more comparable to Cosa Nostra and the Ndrangheta.

People make too many generalized statements. For example some people's opinions are based on some shitbag article they read back in 2008. I'm just saying for example. Things are always changing and evolving in the world of organized crime. We've seen organizations gain power, lose it all, only to regain it back and become more powerful than they were before, then lose it again. Nothing ever stays the same.

Precisely. I would love to read more about the old Camorra clans like those ones. The more sophisticated ones that actually had the respect of the powerful sicilian families. They seemed entrepreneurial and also organized. While the Camorra clans you see now like the big alliances fall short in both of those two categories.

Would you say that the statement that the Ndrangheta is the most powerful group still rings true today then? That has been said for years now but I wonder if that is now a thing of the past as you mentioned groups are always gaining and losing power.

Also, what does everyone think of the asset seizures that are sometimes worth billions of euros according to LE? Are they inflated numbers for show? Because they almost always say that even though they seized so much, it is only a fraction of the individual family’s wealth and it is so hard to believe sometimes. Staggering amounts of assets just gone and the mafia doesn’t lose any sleep over it? People on here say Matteo Messina Denaro was the richest man in the mafia due to how much money was taken from him by LE. Who else rivaled him in terms of assets seized? Toto Riina, Roberto Pannunzi or Michelle Zaza maybe? It’s been said on Carmine Alfieri’s Wikipedia page that he was worth $1.2 billion(LOL).

Do you realize that if they lied about the asset seizure amounts, you realize how many potential lawsuits that would be? You would hear outcries from the families, they would all band together and point out the lies which would work in their favor. To answer your question more specifically, the asset seizures oftentimes entails whole economic empires under some squeaky clean Mafia-controlled businessman or entrepreneur. They also involve dozens of suspects, and range from bank accounts to entire business empires as I said above, to multiple cars, pieces of jewelry, real estate, the list goes on and on. No it's not farfetched at all for the asset seizures to run into the billions of euros. Last but not least, you don't last multiple decades "on the run" as a super notorious and high-profile Mafia superboss like Matteo Messina Denaro and not have access to VAST financial resources and political connections. So no it's not farfetched at all.

And I'll add, most of the asset seizures don't run into the billions. When I used to keep up with it with Google translate and whatnot, I got the feeling that pretty much everyday or every week they would seize a million here, a million there, maybe even a few hundred thousand. It might even just be a guy's bar or some other Mafioso's pastry shop. Their goal is to remove all sources of income and make them poor.

A lot of seized assets end up back in mafia hands , once all that land/property go to public auction , no one is willing to buy it, so it is bought back by people close to mafia, its like an never ending circle.

On top there are three groups:

Mazzarella clan, the clan was founded in the 1960s by the Mazzarella brothers, as a branch of the Zaza clan, then headed by the historical boss Michele Zaza, who was a relative of the Mazzarella brothers
Secondigliano Alliance a strategic alliance of Camorra clans in Naples
Casalesi clan in Caserta

To secure their share in the thriving illicit cigarette smuggling industry the Sicilian Mafia initiated Neapolitans into their organisation. Zaza together with Lorenzo Nuvoletta and Antonio Bardellino were sworn in to seal a pact on cigarette smuggling in 1975. Zaza was associated to Tommaso Spadaro, linked to Mafia boss Stefano Bontade. All three Neapolitans were regional representatives of the Mafia and were represented by Michele Greco on the Sicilian Mafia Commission.

Those 3 in particular were the most effective and lucrative bosses the Camorra has seen during their time. The NCO ended up overwhelming them with their size and violence though. The NCO group really reminds me of the Latin Kings when they started in prison systems and soon became one of the biggest gangs in the country. Something similar happened with the bloods within the prison system on the eastern part of the United States.

I think that puts the amount of money that the mafia has at their fingertips in perspective. If they are not even close to being broken down by getting such a large amount of asset seized, there’s really no telling how much money some of these families have.

In your research, have you found any American mobsters who can compare in terms of money brought in during the pizza connection era? DEA agent Frank Panessa said that he knew of one group that brought $1 million a day into one small apartment in New York.

I have no idea, but the American Mafia does have some pretty wealthy members. Salvatore Avellino, two guys from the Colombo Family I can't even mention because their names will be blocked out, even the newest made man rat Richard Ferrara from the Colombos is said to be pretty wealthy. Lots of guys do have lots of money, despite the current shape LCN is in. They're just going to have to come up with new rackets to fit this day and age if they're going to stay in the business of crime. Many of your wealthy mobsters have very successful legitimate businesses.

Pizza connection was huge drug trafficking operation, nothing brings money like drugs. You also can't compare US & Italian mafia families , in Italy , especially South Italy , they have control and influence on almost all aspects of life , they are earning money on literally everything.

I can hardly believe my ears when people compare the American Mafia to Mexican drug cartels. How can you compare organized crime in a country that really has no rules to a country with a book of laws that's almost as tall as the average man? And it's only getting worse. The government here wants its citizens to do only 3 things: work, pay taxes, and shut the fuck up. Oh and watch sports.

Has the government been able to put a dent in them at all? It seems like the consensus is that the Camorra in general is the weakest and easiest to break apart amongst the 3 organizations. Though there are some Camorra families that operate on a bigger scale and are much more connected than others.

Does the mafia in Italy have any individual business(es) that brings in money comparable to what drugs do? The Italian American mafia was able to do that with the gasoline scam. They were making drug money without selling any drugs behind that scheme.

Why do yall keep saying this same shit? It's so lazy....

Just Google some families names and read some articles....

This exactly whst I mean.... they do the same shit in Europe.

I do. There isn’t very easily accessible and in depth information on the individual crime families themselves from what I have been able to find. Not compared to the cartels at least.

It would actually be nice if there was at least a Wikipedia article on each and every known Ndrangheta, Cosa Nostra, Camorra, and SCU clan in Italy the same way there's one on every American Mafia family.

Apologies my man. Didn't mean to come off jerky....

This is a little old.... I'll try and find you something more up to date....

https://www.fanpage.it/napoli/mappa-camorra-nuova-provincia-napoli/




24 OCTOBER 2022
6.29PM
The province of Naples controlled by the Secondigliano Alliance: the new map of the Camorra
In the latest report from the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate, the map of the clans in the province of Naples, almost all linked to the Secondigliano Alliance.

By Nico Falco


The map of the clans of the metropolitan area by areas of influence: Secondigliano Alliance (red) and linked clans (orange), autonomous (blue), Mazzarella (yellow).

If the city of Naples is substantially divided between the Secondigliano Alliance and the Mazzarella (with the clans linked to the first cartel on the outskirts and those of the second in the city centre), the map of the Camorra reconstructed by the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate (with the latest report, relating to the second half of 2021) shows a clear prevalence of the northern suburbs cartel in the province: excluding the municipalities of San Giorgio and Portici, almost all of the clans present in the metropolitan area are firmly linked to the Mallardo-Licciardi-Contini .


Among the main clans active in the province of Naples are the Mallardo of Giugliano (at the top of the Alliance) and the Moccia of Afragola , rooted and well structured in the territory and with a strong propensity to infiltrate the economic fabric, to the point of controlling entire commercial sectors through activities registered in the name of frontmen with which to launder the money coming from illicit deals. Dia underlines, regarding the two clans:

equipped with a clear entrepreneurial vocation thanks to which, together with the innumerable frontmen, they implement those procedures typical of economic-criminal cartels which evolve into only apparently "clean" entrepreneurial holding companies. These are companies that aim to infiltrate large contracts and more generally in circuits for which disbursements of public funds are envisaged with a consolidated interest in activities linked to the two major pre-pandemic emergencies, that of welcoming immigrants and that of ecological protection which moves from the waste cycle to activities linked to the ecological transition for which ad hoc funds will be provided in the so-called National Recovery and Resilience Plan.The measure of how these Camorra organizations are now privileged interlocutors of deviant fringes of local politics and public administration is reflected in the number of local authorities dissolved by the mafia or subjected to commissioner management. So much so that the Prosecutor Giovanni Melillo spoke of a "democratic emergency" regarding the phenomenon.


The clans of the western province of Naples
Areas: Pozzuoli, Quarto, Bacoli, Fusaro, Monte di Procida, Miseno, Islands?"
AVesuviano, Sn Giuseppe Vesuviano, Terzigno, San Paolo Belsito, Brusciano, San Vitaliano, Cimitile, Mariglianella, Castello di Cisterna, Pomigliano d'Arco, Cicciano, Roccarainola, Somma Vesuviana, Cercola, Massa di Somma, San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Sant' Anastasia and Pollena Trocchia.

In the Nolano area, Dia does not detect significant alterations in the criminal balance, with the Fabbrocino and Russo remaining the main clans. However, there is evidence of interference by the clans of East Naples, and in particular of Ponticelli, in the territories of Sant'Anastasia, Cercola, San Sebastiano al Vesuvio and Massa di Somma.

In San Vitaliano, Scisciano, Cicciano and Roccarainola the hegemonic clan remains that of the Russo, which enjoys the support of the Cava clan of Avellino. In San Giuseppe Vesuviano, Ottaviano, San Gennaro Vesuviano and Terzigno, illicit trafficking is the exclusive prerogative of the Fabbrocino clan; in Terzigno, in particular, the Batti group, known as the Milanesi, is significantly reduced.

In Poggiomarino the investigations have reconstructed the existence of two main groups: the Giugliano clan, an articulation of the Fabbrocino in contact with the 'ndrina Pesce-Bellocco of Gioia Tauro, and another group, also called the Giugliano clan, opposed to the first and headed by a convicted felon close to the historic Galasso clan, which is mainly active in drug trafficking with contacts both with the Albanian organized crime and with the Formicola clan of San Giovanni a Teduccio and the Batti clan of Terzigno. Third group, that of the Amoruso, which is apparently headed by a former collaborator of justice.

In Brusciano the clans identified are the Rega-Piacente, as opposed to the Palermo group. In Pomigliano d'Arco and Castello di Cisterna the Orefice and D'Ambrosio groups remain in contention for dominance. In Cicciano, recent investigations by the Carabinieri have attested to the existence of the Nino clan, operating between 2018 and 2019. In Somma Vesuviana there is the presence of the De Bernardo, D'Atri and D'Avino groups, mainly active in drug trafficking .


The clans of the southern province of Naples
Areas: San Giorgio a Cremano, Portici, Ercolano, San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Torre del Greco, Torre Annunziata, Boscoreale, Boscotrecase, Pompeii, Castellammare di Stabia, Sant'Antonio Abate, Pimonte, Agerola, Sorrento Peninsula, Casola di Napoli and Lettere .

The Mazzarella clan would have extended its influence in the immediate southern province, in San Giorgio a Cremano through the allied D'Amico-Luongo group of Ponticelli and in Portici, where the historical clan is that of the Vollaro, linked to the Secondigliano Alliance. In San Giorgio a Cremano the Attanasio-Troia clan, linked to the Vollaro, is still active.

In Pollena Trocchia the Dia records a revival of the historic Arlistico-Terracciano clan. Two opposing criminal groups operate in Ercolano, the Ascione-Papale and the Birra-Iacomino; the first group is also influential in Torre del Greco, where the Falanga clan is weakened by the detention of the leaders.

The situation of Torre Annunziata is more complex, where, alongside the historic Gionta clan (the Valentini), there are the Gallo-Cavalieri and their offshoot of the Gallo-Pisielli, in addition to the new recruits of the so-called Fourth System, based in the Penniniello Park, all young and linked by family ties both to members of the Gallo-Knights and to affiliates of the Gionta clan killed in internal purges.

In Castellammare di Stabia the disarticulation of the Cesarano clan favored the formation of a new criminal group which, Dia reports, would have tried to conquer the areas of the northern area by extorting traders and entrepreneurial activities; Despite the numerous arrests, the D'Alessandro clan is still operational, with a stronghold in the Scanzano district and mainly active in drug trafficking and extortion, as well as having acquired monopolistic management of the funeral sector. Finally, there are some satellite groups in the area, such as the Di Somma, the Vitale and the Learned (the latter linked to the D'Alessandro but independent in their drug dealing in the Savorito district).

In Boscotrecase the main clan is that of the Gallo-Limelli-Vangone, while in Boscoreale, and in particular in the so-called Piano Napoli, there are various criminal groups, some with links to the Fourth System.

The Cesarano clan, the so-called "Ponte Persica clan", operates in Pompeii, with branches in the northern part of Castellammare and in the neighboring province of Salerno thanks to the support of other criminal organizations, such as that of the Pecoraro-Renna, and to links with the Mallardos and the Powder.

Note.... this is just Naples.... there's nothing here on the Casalesi clans....

No apology needed! This is great information as you always provide on here.

These criminal organizations are obviously some of the biggest drug traffickers in the entire world so there is no rule against dealing drugs. But are some bosses still worried about being labeled a drug trafficker?

I saw an article where Michele Zaza said “Never connect my name to drugs. I am horrified by two things: kidnapping people and trafficking narcotics. This product doesn’t interest me, although I don’t want to morally condemn people who are involved in these businesses. I have children and every day I pray to the Madonna that she will protect them, when they are adults, from the sins of the game and drugs.” I am assuming that this was said after he had cooperated because in the same interview he admitted to selling cigarettes. It appears to be well known that he was a big heroin dealer along with his friends in Sicily that he made along the way.