Naples, 16 Sept. (LaPresse) – A staggering turnover of around 450,000 euros a month for a drug-dealing ring with clearly defined roles and responsibilities, systems to evade police checks and a bunker used as a central hub for drug dealing and consumption. This is what has emerged from the investigation carried out by the Carabinieri of the Bagnoli operational unit, coordinated by the Naples District Anti-Mafia Directorate, which culminated today in the execution of a pre-trial detention order issued by Investigating Magistrate Fabrizia Fiore against 31 suspects (30 in prison and one under house arrest), believed to be affiliated with the Petrone-Puccinelli clan, which operates in the Rione Traiano neighbourhood in the western part of Naples. “This is not the usual drug dealing that takes place in the area, but a drug trade run along mafia lines, with all the hallmarks of the Camorra,” emphasised Naples Public Prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, highlighting the turnover generated by the operation of the drug dealing hotspot in Via Tertulliano, estimated at around 450,000 euros per month. Sergio Amato, deputy prosecutor at the Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA), described the Rione Traiano neighbourhood, in the Soccavo district, as “an area mirroring Scampia in the western part of the city” due to the presence of Camorra organisations that have controlled the drug-dealing hotspots for decades. At the centre of the investigations is the operation of a bunker carved out of a municipally-owned building, which had already been seized as part of a previous investigation into drug trafficking. Not only were drug dealers and lookouts operating inside, but it was also possible to consume drugs there – a practice that would have allowed them to thwart any police checks outside.
Camorra: 31 arrests in Naples; the drug-dealing operation was raking in 450,000 euros a month
Naples, 16 Sept. (LaPresse) – A staggering turnover of around 450,000 euros a month for a drug-dealing ring with clearly defined roles and responsibilities, systems to evade police checks and a bunker used as a central hub for drug dealing and consumption. This is what has emerged from the investigation carried out by the Carabinieri of the Bagnoli operational unit, coordinated by the Naples District Anti-Mafia Directorate, which culminated today in the execution of a pre-trial detention order issued by Investigating Magistrate Fabrizia Fiore against 31 suspects (30 in prison and one under house arrest), believed to be affiliated with the Petrone-Puccinelli clan, which operates in the Rione Traiano neighbourhood in the western part of Naples. “This is not the usual drug dealing that takes place in the area, but a drug trade run along mafia lines, with all the hallmarks of the Camorra,” emphasised Naples Public Prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, highlighting the turnover generated by the operation of the drug dealing hotspot in Via Tertulliano, estimated at around 450,000 euros per month. Sergio Amato, deputy prosecutor at the Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA), described the Rione Traiano neighbourhood, in the Soccavo district, as “an area mirroring Scampia in the western part of the city” due to the presence of Camorra organisations that have controlled the drug-dealing hotspots for decades. At the centre of the investigations is the operation of a bunker carved out of a municipally-owned building, which had already been seized as part of a previous investigation into drug trafficking. Not only were drug dealers and lookouts operating inside, but it was also possible to consume drugs there – a practice that would have allowed them to thwart any police checks outside.