We take a journey through the historic districts of Naples old town, a Unesco heritage site in the grip of Camorra gangs, filmed using a technique that provides a 360° vision of the area, as the voices of gang members accompany us on our visits to criminal dens.
(27 luglio 2017) – «It was like Baghdad», they say as they describe the street battles with Kalashnikovs and pistols. But it isn’t Baghdad. This is Naples, and while the top level members of the Camorra do business all over the world, their footsoldiers, ruthless young drug addicts, have a firm grip on certain districts of the city’s historic centre: Sanità; Traiano and Soccavo to the west; and Ponticelli to the east. Anti-Mafia prosecutors, led by Filippo Beatrice and Giuseppe Borrelli, have managed to penetrate the heart of gangland, leading to arrests and trials, but there seems to be no lack of new blood, and the young recruits emulate their predecessors and glorify their crimes in tattoos and graffiti. In the Sanità district, despite law enforcement efforts, the shootings continue: not only ambushes against rival gangs, but also shows of force with bullets sprayed around at random. And so in addition to the so-called Camorra deaths there are side effects, with ten innocent victims over the last five years in the city. There are lots of officers on the street as well as a new squad in action, «the invisible men», set up by police chief Antonio De Iesu and his deputy Michele Spina. They mingle with locals and have managed to make progress against the criminals by seizing weapons and drugs. We head for Via Fontanelle, the stronghold of the Vastarella clan, which last year saw a settling of scores in which two gang members were killed. As usual, relatives spread the word to report our presence. And here we eavesdrop on a conversation about that very attack and the strategy of terror adopted by the Esposito-Genidoni group, rivals of the Fontanelle gang. We then decide to head over to the so-called «Cristallini» area of the Sanità district, which takes its name from a local street. It would be a charming place, with its stacked-up houses and maze of streets, were it not for the fact that the very source of its beauty is exploited by drug pushers. Since they can no longer sell on the streets due to the constant presence of the police, they have taken to the roofs.
Amalia De Simone 