Casalesi clan

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Casalesi clan
AntonioBardellino.jpg
Antonio Bardellino, founder of the Casalesi clan.
Founded1970s
Founded by Antonio Bardellino
Founding location San Cipriano d'Aversa
Years active1970s -present
Territory Italy:
Caserta, Giugliano in Campania, Emilia-Romagna;
Presence also in
Spain, Romania, Switzerland and Dominican Republic
Criminal activities Murder, extortion, contract killing, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, racketeering, smuggling, prostitution, money laundering
Allies Cosa Nostra
'Ndrangheta
Alfieri clan (defunct)
Galasso clan (defunct)
Nigerian mafia
Sacra Corona Unita
Albanian mafia
Mallardo clan
Società foggiana
Rivals Nuova Camorra Organizzata (defunct)
Nuvoletta clan
La Torre clan (defunct)
Lubrano-Ligato clan

The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from San Cipriano d'Aversa in the province of Caserta. Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederation of clans in the Caserta area. The Casalesi clan is believed to be one of the most powerful groups within the Camorra, specialising in construction and keeping a lower profile than clans that focus on drug dealing. [1]

Contents

History

In the 1980s, Bardellino realized that cocaine, not heroin, would become the more profitable drug and organized a trafficking operation smuggling it from Latin America to Aversa via a fish flour import-export business. Heroin was smuggled as well, and shipments to the Gambino crime family were concealed inside espresso filters. When one shipment was intercepted by the authorities, Bardellino reportedly called John Gotti and told him; "Don't worry, now we're sending twice as much another way". [2]

During the Camorra war of the 1980s, the Casalesi sided with Nuova Famiglia against Raffaele Cutolo. In one incident, Casalesi members positioned a machine gun on a hill in Ponte Annicchino and opened fire, killing four Cutolo members. After the Casalesi achieved dominance in their area following the defeat of Cutolo, Antonio Bardellino settled in Santo Domingo with his family. But unrest grew within the Casalesi.

Heading up the clan's military operations were Francesco Schiavone and Francesco Bidognetti, and they thought Bardellino's right-hand man Mario Iovine was too close to Bardellino but did not approve of their plans for autonomy. They convinced Bardellino to order the murder of Iovine's brother, and then told Iovine that Bardellino had his brother killed based purely on a rumour. Iovine murdered Bardellino in retaliation in his Brazilian villa in 1988, meeting him under the pretext of discussing their cocaine operation. A number of men loyal to Bardellino were subsequently murdered. [2]

Francesco Schiavone took over as leader. In 1990, Vincenzo De Falco made a tip-off against Schiavone and this reason war broke out between Schiavone's men and those loyal to another boss, Vincenzo de Falco, who died machine-gunned in 1991. During this war Mario Iovine was also killed by revolver bullets by De Falco's hitmen while in a telephone booth in Portugal. The war lasted four years. [2] The clan was heavily involved in the Naples waste management crisis that dumped toxic waste around Campania in the 1990s and 2000s; the boss of the clan, Gaetano Vassallo, admitted to systematically working for 20 years to bribe local politicians and officials to gain their acquiescence to dumping toxic waste. [3] [4] In March 2004, Francesco Schiavone's cousin, Francesco Cicciariello Schiavone, was arrested in Poland and charged with 10 homicides, three kidnappings, nine attempted homicides and extortion. [5]

Spartacus trial

Following his arrest, all the police investigations into the clan were grouped together in the Spartacus Trial. Over 1,300 people were investigated and 500 witness took the stand. [6] The trial against 36 members of the Casalesi clan finally concluded on June 19, 2008, after 10-years. Over the course of the trial five people involved in the case were murdered, including an interpreter. A judge and two journalists received death threats. [7]

All defendants were found guilty and 16 will be life-imprisoned. Francesco Schiavone, his lieutenant, Francesco Bidognetti, Antonio Iovine and Michele Zagaria were given life sentences. [7] [8]

Current status

The clan was jointly ruled by Michele Zagaria and Antonio Iovine, until the latter's capture and arrest on November 17, 2010. [9] The clan was then led solely by Zagaria, until he too was captured on December 7, 2011. He was found in a bunker near his home province. [10] The Casalesi clan is heavily involved in the cement and milk industries as well as the international drug trade, supplying drugs to the Mafia in Palermo and having alliances with Albanian mobsters and Nigerian crime syndicates. Their total assets are estimated to be worth around 30 billion euros. [2]

On September 18, 2008 six African immigrants were shot dead at Castel Volturno in what is believed to be a dispute between the Casalesi and immigrant drug gangs. A riot followed the next day, and the Italian government deployed 500 troops in the area to deal with the outbreak of Camorra violence. [11] [12]

The clan is now led by those who were never arrested and those who were released. The activity of the clan is proven by the continuous arrests that continue to take place today.

Related Research Articles

The Camorra 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 17th 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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberto Saviano</span> Italian journalist and writer (born 1979)

Roberto Saviano is an Italian writer, essayist, journalist, and screenwriter. In his writings, including articles and his book Gomorrah, he uses literature and investigative reporting to tell of the economic reality of the territory and business of organized crime in Italy, in particular the Camorra crime syndicate, and of organized crime more generally.

<i>Gomorrah</i> (film) 2008 crime film directed by Matteo Garrone

Gomorrah is a 2008 Italian crime film drama directed by Matteo Garrone, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Roberto Saviano, who also collaborated in the screenplay. It deals with the Casalesi clan, a crime syndicate within the Camorra — a traditional criminal organization based in Naples and Caserta, in the southern Italian region of Campania.

The Nuova Famiglia was an Italian Camorra confederation created in the 1970s and headed by the most powerful Camorra bosses of the time, Carmine Alfieri, the Nuvoletta brothers, Michele Zaza, Luigi Giuliano and Antonio Bardellino, to face Raffaele Cutolo's Nuova Camorra Organizzata, and affiliated with the Sicilian Mafia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmine Alfieri</span> Italian Camorra boss

Carmine Alfieri is an Italian Camorra boss, who rose from Piazzolla di Nola to become one of the most powerful members of Neapolitan Camorra in the 1980s. As boss of the Alfieri clan, he was one of the most influential and powerful Camorra bosses from 1984 until his arrest in 1992. Alfieri's nickname is 'o 'ntufato, the angry one, thanks to the dissatisfied, angry sneer he wears constantly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesco Schiavone</span> Italian criminal

Francesco Schiavone is a member of the Camorra, the Caserta organized crime syndicate, and the head of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta. He has been dubbed Sandokan after a popular 1970s television series starring Kabir Bedi because of his thick, dark beard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Bardellino</span> Casalesi clan boss

Antonio Bardellino was a powerful Neapolitan Camorrista and boss of the Casalesi clan, having a prominent role in the organized crime in the province of Caserta during the 1980s. He was one of the last of the old-style Camorra godfathers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michele Zagaria</span> Italian crime boss

Michele Zagaria is an Italian Camorrista and one of the bosses of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta northwest of Naples. He was nicknamed Capastorta, which translates to "twisted head", because of his violent reputation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Iovine</span>

Antonio Iovine is a powerful Italian Camorrista and one of the bosses of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Lazio. His nickname is 'o ninno, because of his baby face when he was made a capo at a very young age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francesco Bidognetti</span>

Francesco Bidognetti is a powerful Italian Camorrista. He is the chief lieutenant of Francesco Schiavone, boss of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta, and head of the Bidognetti clan, one of the five clans which make up the Casalesi. He is known as "'Cicciott' 'e Mezzanotte'".

The Mallardo clan is a Camorra clan operating from the town of Giugliano in Campania, north of the city of Naples. The Mallardo clan is also one of the clans that belongs to the Secondigliano Alliance, that is considered by the authorities as the most powerful Camorra group that is still active.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spartacus Trial</span>

The Spartacus Maxi-Trial(Italian: Processo Spartacus) was a series of criminal trials, each specifically directed against the activities of the powerful Casalesi clan of the Camorra. The trial was opened at the Corte d'Assise of Santa Maria Capua Vetere in Caserta. It was named after the historical gladiator, Spartacus, and so named in recognition of the need to fight a revolt in the Casalesi clan's territory. The trial was initially chaired by its president, Catello Marano on 1 July 1998. It continued just over ten years, until its final verdict was eventually read on 19 June 2008.

The Castel Volturno massacre is the name given by the Italian press to a mass shooting perpetrated by the Casalesi clan in which seven people were killed on 18 September 2008. The massacre outside the Ob Ob Exotic Fashion tailor shop on the Via Domitiana was widely characterized as part of a growing conflict between the native Camorra and the immigrant African drug gangs. Murdered were Antonio Celiento, the owner of an arcade next to Baia Verde, and six African immigrants: Samuel Kwaku, 26 (Togo); Alaj Ababa (Togo); Francis Antwi, 31 (Ghana); Eric Affum Yeboah, 25 (Ghana); Alex Geemes, 28 (Liberia) and Cristopher Adams, 28 (Liberia). Joseph Ayimbora (Ghana), 34, survived by feigning death; he later helped identify the killers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe Setola</span> Italian criminal

Giuseppe Setola is an Italian Camorrista and former boss of the Casalesi clan from Caserta. Since 2008, he was included on the list most wanted fugitives in Italy, until his arrest on January 14, 2009, in Mignano Monte Lungo. Setola allegedly headed a squad of killers, and was said to have ordered or carried out 18 murders throughout the latter half of 2008. Police began a massive manhunt against Setola in response to the murders of six West African immigrants in Castel Volturno.

Carmine Schiavone was a former member of the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta. He was a cousin of former Camorra superboss Francesco Schiavone and became a pentito collaborating with Italian Justice. He was the chief witness against the Casalesi clan during the Spartacus Maxi trial that culminated in sixteen senior Casalesi figures being sentenced to life imprisonment, among them Francesco Bidognetti, Michele Zagaria and Antonio Iovine. After living in the Witness Protection Program for some years, Schiavione retired to live in the province of Viterbo, with his wife and two children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raffaele Diana</span>

Raffaele Diana is an Italian Camorrista and senior boss of the Casalesi clan from Caserta. His nickname is Rafilotto.

Nicola Panaro, is an Italian Camorrista and member in the Casalesi clan from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Salerno. He has been on the "most wanted list" of the Italian ministry of the Interior since 2003 until his arrest in April 2010. Convicted for extortion and membership in the Camorra, he has yet to serve a prison sentence of nine years and four months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicola Cosentino</span> Italian politician

Nicola Cosentino is an Italian politician. He was until 1/21 the regional coordinator of Forza Italia in Campania.

Francesco Mallardo, also known as Ciccio 'e Carlantonio, is an Italian criminal and a member of the Neapolitan Camorra. He headed the Mallardo clan operating from the town of Giugliano in Campania, north of the city of Naples. He was added to the list of thirty most dangerous fugitives in Italy.

References

  1. ↑ Mafia bosses held meetings in police station, The Guardian, September 29, 2007
  2. 1 2 3 4 Saviano,Gomorrah, p. ?
  3. ↑ "Così ho avvelenato Napoli". l'Espresso . 2008-09-11. Archived from the original on 2013-09-24. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  4. ↑ "Inchiesta sui veleni a Napoli perquisiti l'Espresso e due reporter". la Repubblica . 2009-09-12. Retrieved 2008-09-26.
  5. ↑ (in Italian) Arrestato boss della camorra, preso seguendo l'amante, La Repubblica, March 13, 2004
  6. ↑ The Casalesi clan of the Camorra Archived August 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine , Gangstersinc, July 22, 2008
  7. 1 2 Mafia godfathers jailed for life in landmark murder trial, The Daily Telegraph, June 20, 2008
  8. ↑ (in Italian) «Processo Spartacus», 16 ergastoli ai Casalesi, Corriere del Mezzogiorno, June 20, 2008
  9. ↑ Italy police arrest top Camorra mafia boss, BBC News, November 17, 2010
  10. ↑ Italy mafia boss Zagaria found in bunker – police – BBC News, December 7, 2011
  11. ↑ Riot after Africans shot in Italy, BBC News, September 19, 2008
  12. ↑ Italy to send army to fight mafia, BBC News, September 23, 2008
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