- 4 months ago
- #camorra
- #documentary
- #bloodiestmafia
- #mafia
Documentary, BBC.This world's bloodiest mafia, Camorra
BBC This World #Camorra
The BBC's This World #documentary series featured an episode titled "Italy's Bloodiest Mafia," which investigated the Camorra, Naples's powerful and violent organized crime syndicate.
Reporter Mark Franchetti explored how the Camorra, often referred to locally as "Il Sistema" (the System), has maintained its grip on Naples despite significant setbacks.
The documentary highlighted the Camorra's extensive reach, involvement in drug trafficking, racketeering, politics, public works, and the illegal dumping of toxic waste, including its role in Naples's waste crisis.
It noted that the Camorra has been responsible for over 3,000 deaths in the past three decades, making it Italy's bloodiest mafia.
The episode included interviews with individuals directly affected by the #Camorra, such as Alessandra Clemente, whose mother was killed in a 1997 shoot-out between rival clans, and Antonio Prestieri, whose father was a powerful clan boss.
Both individuals were portrayed as taking a courageous stand against the syndicate, symbolizing a potential path towards defeating it.
The documentary also featured insights from senior Camorra insiders who had never spoken publicly before, providing a rare look into the organization's inner workings.
The episode was originally broadcast on BBC Two on July 13, 2011.
#BloodiestMafia #Mafia
BBC This World #Camorra
The BBC's This World #documentary series featured an episode titled "Italy's Bloodiest Mafia," which investigated the Camorra, Naples's powerful and violent organized crime syndicate.
Reporter Mark Franchetti explored how the Camorra, often referred to locally as "Il Sistema" (the System), has maintained its grip on Naples despite significant setbacks.
The documentary highlighted the Camorra's extensive reach, involvement in drug trafficking, racketeering, politics, public works, and the illegal dumping of toxic waste, including its role in Naples's waste crisis.
It noted that the Camorra has been responsible for over 3,000 deaths in the past three decades, making it Italy's bloodiest mafia.
The episode included interviews with individuals directly affected by the #Camorra, such as Alessandra Clemente, whose mother was killed in a 1997 shoot-out between rival clans, and Antonio Prestieri, whose father was a powerful clan boss.
Both individuals were portrayed as taking a courageous stand against the syndicate, symbolizing a potential path towards defeating it.
The documentary also featured insights from senior Camorra insiders who had never spoken publicly before, providing a rare look into the organization's inner workings.
The episode was originally broadcast on BBC Two on July 13, 2011.
#BloodiestMafia #Mafia
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LearningTranscript
00:00hear nothing see nothing say nothing those three things will keep you alive
00:14that is the code of Italy's most violent mafia the Camorra and this is where it's
00:26with the strongest Naples a city in the heart of Europe its brutality is notorious it's killed
00:33more people in the IRA in the mall it stands for death terror trauma blood and tears but a senior
00:42insiders who've never spoken publicly before tell me the power of the Camorra clans is all
00:48pervasive take away the word Naples and leave the word Camorra it's the city of the Camorra
00:54this organized crime syndicate rakes in billions by poisoning its own backyard with toxic waste
01:01and the Camorra has polluted politics in Naples it used to be that the Camorista would knock on
01:09the politicians door for favors today in this city is the politician who needs the Camorista
01:15the Camorra has more blood on its hands than Sicily's infamous mafia what will it take to stop it
01:24four-year-old Francesco is too young to know it but his mother leads no ordinary life
01:39I'm not such a large but one is a visitation you know see one of the Monday is a prosecutor the
01:48police fear that her enemies could strike at any time this is Naples in 2011 not Columbia but
01:57she will not live under 24-hour armed police protection so that she so now she needs protecting
02:08because she's a total and to come on a prosecutor here and Naples homegrown mafia thinks nothing of
02:14targeting those who stand in its way you love and protection is granted to prosecutors who are
02:21seen to be at the forefront of fighting against organized crime yes I don't feel in danger but
02:28it's not for me to decide it's part of the rules of the game I knew when I accepted this job that I would
02:35need protection in the profile of the protection in what do you think you got a little shape to the
02:43the main reason why I chose to do what I do was to understand properly why our land is sick with this
02:49cancer the Camara it suffocates this region and makes it resemble a third world country
02:56bringing to justice many of Italy's most notorious gangsters is all in a day's work for Simona today
03:11she's prosecuting an extortion case the Camara is made up of schools of competing clans and the
03:19man behind the glass is alleged to belong to one of the most powerful which Simona has helped bring
03:24to its knees her star witness is the carabinieri's lieutenant-colonel Fabio Cagnazzo one of the region's
03:32best detectives in the fight against organized crime let plan the rules that the fact Apple
03:38the two clan bosses are now in jail after more than a decade on the run this prisoner may soon join
04:03them he's facing up to 26 years in prison for racketeering that they ask you I think that the
04:11people that the Camara create slaves a person's only way out is either to give evidence against them
04:18or to go out in a coffin a shady channel in a lot about it took the chalk it produced and
04:25the Camara is interested in anything that makes money it has been Midas touch able to transform
04:32anything into money legal or illegal illicit okay see ya the Camara is like a net over the city with a very
04:47tight mesh that net is invisible to outsiders who see only a beautiful city and the Lee of Man Vesuvius
04:57set on the bay of Naples it's a magnet for tourists Neapolitans are renowned for their gregarious nature
05:05and expressive love of life but there's another side to the city if you know where to look the grim
05:14estates of North Naples with addicts openly shooting up after buying heron from the Camara
05:21my name is Mark Franchetti I was born in Italy but haven't lived here for 25 years growing up in Italy
05:37I became used to hearing Camara stories Naples has become so near to the Camara that it has its own
05:43newspapers like this one were specializing crime every day the Cronica di Napoli reports the latest
05:51shootouts arrests and courtroom revelations a daily reminder of the Camara's enduring presence here
05:57but Neapolitans don't call it the Camara they call it in sistema the system the system isn't one
06:09organization with a single godfather like Sicily's Cosa Nostra it's a series of competing often warring
06:16criminal clans who can strike anyone at any time that you know what that the first time that I
06:27heard the word Camara was when it took away my mother and a mother Alessandra Clemente had a happy
06:34childhood in Naples until the Camara blighted her life her mother was shot dead in 1997 caught in the
06:43crossfire of a clan shootout you know the horrible thing is that I remember everything really well really
06:51well I was playing a game I heard some noises thought maybe a scooter had crashed in the street we lived on
07:01the ninth floor of our building high up then I went to the balcony and saw my mom on the floor hurt I ran
07:11down the stairs didn't wait for the lift then I remember being in the arms of some nice people who
07:17wouldn't let me go into the road and I let them stop me aspect to it my mom I didn't and I got me my mom
07:24was only 39 she was a beautiful woman with a love of life I had the first 10 years of my life with her
07:33and that was a wonderful to better see the water was killed here in front of Alessandra's little brother
07:43he was only five she did be so I'm not they got the table she seen it he will look at the door just a
07:55creative was over today in Europe to tell us what we do does your brother remember anything about it
08:03you know my little more than the I've never been able to find out what he remembers from that day
08:10maybe it's too soon Alessandra still lives in Naples with her brother now 19 and their father
08:26she's studying law and her ambition is to become a prosecutor taking on Camorra cases
08:36my mother my mother tragically died because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time
08:43moment of by yato studiated the decision I have made to study law helped me understand that there
08:51shouldn't be such a thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time we have a right to live in
08:57a better city than this why should I accept the way in which my mother died that was so model you
09:05my mother died my mother Alessandra's commitment is impressive but she's up against unspeakable
09:15brutality this clip from a CCTV camera gave Neapolitans a rare insight into how the Camorra meets our
09:24justice the man on the left of the picture has any seconds to live his assassin in the baseball cap
09:31Cooley walks past him into the shop before committing murder in broad daylight in front of dozens of
09:39people the passers-by move away quickly witnesses are hard to come by in a Camorra killing
10:01I've come to meet a man who knows what it's like to use a gun in anger for the Camorra
10:09Salvatore Striano says he's never killed anyone but admits to putting the trigger often enough
10:14my gun was indispensable and I couldn't do anything without it the first time I held one
10:25I knew I had something strong and powerful in my hands I felt I could defend my family with it I felt
10:32protected Salvatore became a Camorrista when he was still a teenager he comes from Naples Spanish
10:42quarter one of the oldest Camorra strongholds in the city center as he takes me around he reveals
10:49his hidden sinister side I was born there that's my balcony that's where my mother would wait for me
10:59when I came back from dangerous exploits there's a bullet hole and there's another one going to know
11:09here we're entering the tunnel of the dead it's called that because in this street there have been
11:14more than 10 murders between rival families on this street yes once you go in you don't stand a
11:22chance because there's nowhere to hide these men may look as though they're just hanging around one of
11:31naples most picturesque streets in fact the lookouts for a nearby come on a drug deal and if you see
11:41scooters part like this and no one's watching them that's because no one has to nobody would ever
11:47steal them because everyone knows who they belong to so people know that they shouldn't steal them
11:53absolutely they know it they wouldn't touch them the Camorra has been a blight on Naples for more than
12:07a century over the decades local bandits transformed themselves into one of the world's most feared
12:13organized crime networks making money from loan sharking prostitution and cigarette smuggling
12:20but it wasn't until it starts dealing in legal drugs that it became truly rich I'm off to see
12:28the epicenter of the drugs trade the housing estates of northern Naples where investigators believe more
12:34drugs are sold at street level than anywhere else in Europe and the Camorra is behind every deal
12:41using a camera open here is out of the question I could enter unchallenged only with the help of a
12:51local contact taking the secret footage risked swift retribution the area is home to numerous drug
13:00piazzas as narcotic sales points are known these are the lookouts who alert the drug runners at the
13:08first sighted police and these are the customers although victims might be a better way of putting it shooting up
13:18underneath a half-built flyover the ground is little with syringes which you can buy across the counter in
13:29in the local sweet shop and these are the Camorra dealers the expensive wheels of the giveaway the rule estates
13:46like this were no outsider convention I wanted to talk to an inside for years this man ran a drug piazza
13:58the former drug dealer is now left to come on but would still talk to us only on condition that his
14:04identity was concealed want to foldable how much money can a piazza generate in a day total income it
14:12depends a small piazza can generate 30 or 40 thousand euros a day and a big one looks lots of money I've heard
14:21people talk about drug piazzas making a million and a half euros in one week it says a month this
14:29dealer is bringing his boss the morning's takings according to prosecutors as much as half a million
14:36euros worth of drugs are sold by the Camorra in this part of Naples every day most striking is that each
14:44piazza works like clockwork day and night there are 12 people working doing eight hour shifts
14:51there are four lookouts on the outside and four lookouts on the inside then there are another two
14:56people who frisk anyone coming in one person who takes the money and another giving out the merchandise
15:01then there is say the runner who takes the drugs to the piazza you never get to know where the drugs
15:07runner gets his supply from even the people who work there don't know then there is a capa piazza
15:12the boss who manages the day-to-day running of the operation you should look on the due diligence on other
15:18police raids like this one on Camorra drug gases are commonplace there were two when I visited
15:29the drug dealers put up barriers to buy time to escape the police have to call in the fire brigade to
15:42cut through them it doesn't take long for drugs to be found these vials are coded in the colors of the
16:01Italian flag the white ones contain heroin the green crack and the red ones cocaine patriotism Camorra style
16:10the drug dealers are used to raids like this and only a few hours later they'll be up and running again
16:21and the people who live here are used to the drug deal but they're scared so there's nothing they can do
16:32about it the carabinieri have to settle for three foot soldiers but raids like these don't faze the dealers
16:43who controls this area not the state so who does control this place then the Camorra
16:51the drugs aren't the only money earner just as lucrative is extortion the man arriving in this car makes
17:03mattresses hardly a life-threatening occupation but he needs armed police bodyguards around the clock
17:14very few businessmen have shown as much determination to stand up to the Camorra as Pietro Russo one day in 2003 the Camorra came calling in a small town close to Naples
17:29they said I had to give them fifty thousand euros straight away
17:36then fifteen thousand every Easter Christmas and August summer holiday the Camorra can be very persuasive
17:44this is what happened when the owner of a gaming arcade crossed it
17:49so Pietro couldn't just ignore the demands
17:52so I went to the clan and sat down at the table with the boss
17:59he told me that I had until Christmas to pay up
18:02what the boss didn't know was that Pietro was secretly recording the meeting
18:07then he went to the chief of the local carabinieri police
18:10but the response was not what he'd expected
18:13he said it wasn't a lot of money
18:18and I had a factory and a family
18:21he said the police wouldn't be able to guarantee my safety for more than five days
18:25so he advised me to pay up
18:28Pietro felt he had to stop paying
18:35but he still fought back when the Camorra came to collect
18:39I wanted to make the payments in here
18:43so that I could secretly film the whole transaction
18:46I hit the camera in a corner of this office
18:49sat down
18:50and I counted out loud the money on this desk
18:53then he counted it all
18:56put it in his pocket and left
18:58and where was the camera?
19:02I hit it over there
19:04near the helmet
19:05but I didn't have to try very hard to hide it
19:07because the people they sent to do this job
19:10are not the brightest
19:11the evidence Pietro gathered at great personal risk
19:15put 36 members of one of the Camorra's most infamous clans
19:19the Casalesi
19:21behind bars
19:22including local boss Augusto Bianco
19:26at the trial some gave me the sign of the cross
19:30in as much as to say they wanted me dead
19:33in Naples they have a saying
19:45a Camorista's life leads to either the sound of the funeral bell tolling
19:50or the prison door slamming
19:52not much of a choice
19:58so why do the Camorra never seem to run out of new recruits
20:02in part because so many were born in places like this
20:09Le Velle
20:12built as a jewel of urban development
20:15it is now one of the bleakest places to live in Italy
20:18here it's easy to view crime as the good life
20:22especially if you're offered more money than you've ever dreamt of earning
20:26the former drug dealer did
20:29how much could you earn in a month?
20:344,000 euros a day
20:39one person?
20:40you mean one person?
20:424,000 euros?
20:44yeah
20:45how did you spend the money?
20:47nightlife, women, gambling
20:50it gives you all this
20:52some people would use drugs
20:54when you were small
20:58how did people view the Camorristi?
21:00you could tell them apart from other people
21:03by the way they dressed
21:04their cars and their motorbikes
21:06they had many more things than ordinary people
21:09this is a wonder the Camorres romanticised
21:12like this
21:13the music is called neo-melodici
21:27and most Camorristi are big fans
21:30this song idolises the life of a clan member
21:34on the run from the police
21:36young men who are attracted by that lifestyle
21:45usually end up here
21:47this is Nisida
21:49Naples juvenile detention centre
21:52a place where most future Camorra members
21:54eventually do time
21:56Nisida is a place of very special significance for one young woman
22:01this mural lists the names of every innocent person
22:05of organised crime in Italy
22:08including the mother of Alessandra Clemente
22:11Silvia Ruotolo
22:13and one of the men convicted in her killing
22:15served time here while still a teenager
22:18Alessandra comes here often
22:21I go to Nisida because I want to tell those boys the story of my mother
22:26I want to give them an extra reason to change their lives
22:30and not become, once they're out, like the boy who killed her
22:34Alessandra has got to know some of these young men very well
22:38we aren't allowed to reveal their identities
22:41or the crimes they've committed
22:43but they're keen to explain to us
22:45why they think they strayed in the first place
22:47It's like an example of life
22:50I'm not going to say, I'm going to go from February
22:54because I had to eat
22:57I'm not in Africa
22:58but I don't know why they're afraid of
23:00the kids from 12 to 13 years
23:02because they need latitas
23:03they need a beer
23:05they need a beer
23:06because they don't want to live
23:07so they don't want to live
23:08so they don't want to live
23:09so they don't want to live
23:10but most important
23:12crime here runs in the family
23:14every day when we're here
23:16they always say
23:18don't worry about when they're coming
23:20they're coming
23:21and when they're coming
23:23they're coming
23:24and when they're coming
23:25they're coming
23:26they're coming
23:27they're coming
23:28they're coming
23:29they're coming
23:30today Alessandra has brought someone special
23:32she wants them to meet
23:33this Antonio
23:34an encounter
23:35that was beautiful for me
23:36I thought
23:37I'm going to go
23:38and I want to present it to them
23:39we've contacted us via Facebook
23:41he spoke
23:42and had an experience
23:44so much different
23:45my life design
23:47is this family
23:49is the best
23:51the 80% of you
23:52to meet
23:54if I'm able to get out of this thing
23:57by being deeply involved
23:59that means
24:01who would be able to get out of this thing
24:09Antonio Prestieri is Camorra royalty
24:12his father is a convicted murderer
24:14drugs trafficker
24:15and clan boss
24:16but Antonio has kept out of places like Nisida
24:19by rejecting his father's lifestyle
24:21from the very start
24:23despite his roots
24:25the 80%
24:274 out of 5 of my primary and secondary school teachers
24:30showed me respect
24:31just because of my surname
24:32to them
24:33it embodied terror
24:34Antonio's father
24:39is Tommaso Prestieri
24:41he served more than 20 years in jail
24:44whilst Antonio grew up in the grim suburbs
24:46of Secundigliano
24:47this is the district where my father lived
24:54where he still has his flat
24:56where?
24:57in this building?
24:58on the 8th floor
24:59you might say that this is one of the layers of the family
25:02in the tourist guides
25:03this area is marked red
25:04you can't come in here
25:05why?
25:06because it's dangerous?
25:07you bet it's dangerous
25:09you bet it's dangerous
25:10how do you explain that your father chose to bring you into the world here
25:13when he could afford to live
25:15in a nicer area
25:16in a villa for instance?
25:18I think that they know that if they go out of their own little world
25:24they wouldn't be anybody
25:26Antonio not only rejected his father's life of crime
25:31he rejected the proceeds too
25:34for my 18th birthday out of the blue
25:38he sent one of his men with a very expensive watch
25:41and this guy told me
25:43this is a gift from your father
25:45I sent it back
25:47I let my father know that this is a world that leads nowhere
25:51if I could I'd bash some sense into my father
25:55but despite everything
25:57I believe there is some good in him
25:59that he cares about the world
26:01the good, sentimental
26:03towards the world
26:04this is the name of Jesus Christ
26:08this statue of Jesus Christ was commissioned by my father
26:11he's very religious which is a real contradiction
26:14but he put up this statue here and erected others around
26:19so that people in this building would have a place of peace and quiet
26:23that they could retreat to
26:24he could retreat to
26:31today, Antonio Prestieri is making a new life for himself
26:35as a talented playwright and performing musician
26:38determined that his Camorra lineage will not scar him
26:42but Naples has been scarred by the Camorra
26:59the Camorra is Italy's bloodiest mafia
27:023,000 people have been killed over the last 30 years
27:06mostly intervals
27:08and the killing shows no sign of abating
27:12a few hours before I visited this area
27:14two men were gunned down in a barber shop
27:17close to where we were filming
27:19some of the dead are innocents caught in the crossfire
27:22but most of them are Camorra members from warring rival clans
27:26my source, the Camorra drug dealer
27:29will never forget the time his clan went to war
27:32it was very ugly
27:34because you couldn't leave the house for fear of being killed
27:37it wasn't easy from one day to the next
27:40you wouldn't know who your friends were
27:42when you went out, did you go armed?
27:47yeah, they'd take us to wasteland
27:50they'd make us ride motorbikes
27:52and while one of us was steering the bike
27:54the other would practice standing up and shooting
27:57turf wars are so frequent
28:00because of the way Naples is divided into so many Camorra clans
28:04territories like this throughout the Naples region
28:06are carved up between more than 70 clans
28:09and when Camorristi clash
28:11they often reach for the gun
28:13we'd come out, five or six of us at the time, armed
28:17you mean with your guns in your hands?
28:19you bet, around here you don't have time to take your gun out and load it
28:25so you had your guns like this?
28:30yeah, you had to keep pointing them at people all the time
28:34most of the time you shoot to intimidate people
28:38sometimes even if you didn't mean to get them, you did
28:41there were tragedies
28:43and there was one of the tragedies
28:45in any case
28:46the families were standing in a bravo
28:50boom, boom, boom, boom
28:51I'm done
28:52a feature film, Gomorra
28:54chronicle the turf wars
28:56the cast included Salvatore
28:58now living a new life as a professional actor
29:01out of jail and out of the Camorra
29:04brutality like that is all too familiar for Antonio Prestieri
29:11this is Monterosa where all my family used to live
29:16and at this bar on the 18th of May 1992
29:22they killed my two uncles
29:24they called it the Monterosa massacre
29:27in the wake of these killings
29:30Antonio's father and surviving uncle
29:32were left to run the family clan
29:35and act as Camorra generals in the turf wars
29:43the hours of darkness held particular perils for Antonio
29:47when he feared death just because of his surname
29:51during the turf wars when everyone was killing each other
29:57there would be these nights after rehearsals
29:59where I'd walk down the street
30:01hear the sound of a motorbike and be terrified
30:04and all because I bore my father's name
30:06which made me a target for retribution
30:10and I would simply hope that they would shoot me in the back
30:16so that I wouldn't have to stare death in the face
30:20I live with that fear constantly for three or four years
30:27Italy has not one but three police forces fighting organized crime
30:35this is one of a series of coordinated police raids taking place tonight
30:41this time by the state police, the Polizia
30:44this time by the state police, the Polizia
30:48tonight I see with my own eyes what success with the authorities looks like
30:54many of the big clan leaders are in jail for life after being picked up in police raids like this
31:09but with a constant supply of new recruits it's a never-ending battle
31:13tonight the Polizia arrest 15 alleged Camorristi
31:16this man is facing a lengthy sentence on charges of extortion and being a Camorra member
31:28but the authorities have an even more powerful weapon against the Camorra
31:33Supergrassis known here as Pintiti
31:36Camorristi who turn informants as part of a plea bargain
31:40no one knows better than them where the bodies are buried
31:44literally
31:46this top Camorrista gave evidence against his own brother
31:49this man, the father of Antonio Prestieri
31:52my father got life for murder
31:57how do you feel about the fact that your uncle has betrayed and accused his own brother?
32:05it felt very strange
32:10because I would never think of betraying my own sister, my own blood
32:14but on the other hand, what can you expect from people who have done such terrible things?
32:19he was able to do things, and he could also expect that
32:23very few members of the Camorra are prepared to shed lights on its secrets in her workings
32:40but I'm on my way to meet a high-ranking Camorra insider
32:44it took weeks of negotiation to get him to talk
32:49and even then, he only agreed on condition that his identity be concealed
32:53he was a racketeer, but says he's now out of the organization
32:59that locals call Il Sistema
33:01I like living a life of crime, I still like it
33:06the racketeer joined the Camorra, doing his first stretch in prison
33:10you make a blood pact
33:12I first cut myself, and then so did my sponsor, and then his sponsor
33:16and all the blood flows together
33:19you make this blood pact on the Bible
33:22you swear on the Bible?
33:25yes, you swear on being faithful to the boss and the whole organization
33:30so you have to keep your mouth shut, and if you don't, they will shut it for you
33:35that's the Omerta, the code of silence
33:38there are things you can't even tell your wife or family
33:41from then on, you start to specialize
33:45and what did you specialize in?
33:48extortion, that was my specialty
33:50at that time, the very sound of my name would make people tremble and pay up
33:54if someone refused to pay, who would decide what to do?
33:57was it you?
33:59I was the aerial boss, so it was up to me
34:02a bit of intimidation, burn a few cars, destroy part of a factory
34:06but we wouldn't kill anyone
34:08but there wasn't that much need for it, because everyone paid
34:18crossing the Camorra can have dire consequences
34:21when this group of Camorra thugs came to a bowling alley to intimidate its owner
34:26they brought a can of petrol
34:28the same methods were used against Pietro Russo's mattress factory
34:38after he testified against those who'd forced him to pay up
34:41I saw the flames from a distance
34:45it was a ball of fire, it was at a centimeter where you didn't see flames
34:49and you understood straight away that it was the plan
34:51and you understood straight away that it was the plan
34:52it couldn't be anyone else
34:56the fire in 2008 completely gutted his factory
35:04Pietro would still not be coward
35:07he rebuilt it and is now producing mattresses again
35:14but it's not quite business as usual
35:17this is one of the bags which we've always used before I reported the Camorra
35:24but after that I couldn't use it anymore because our name was written on it
35:29and if we used it we wouldn't be able to sell any more mattresses
35:32not around here
35:34so now we use unmarked bags
35:37so now we use unmarked bags
35:41just because people are scared?
35:44because people are scared
35:49even before the fire
35:51the Camorra threats against Pietro was so serious
35:54that he'd been given a round the clock armed police guard
35:57I've seen a long queue of people lining up around a courtyard
36:03business people I knew
36:05all waiting their turn to pay protection money
36:08it was like a line of people waiting at the post office to pay their bills
36:12when Pietro refused to join that line
36:15life became very lonely
36:18from the moment I reported the Camorra
36:21all my friends started avoiding me
36:23they were scared even of being in the same car as me
36:26you start feeling like you're a leper
36:29this dress even broke up his marriage
36:35do you feel you're paying a very high price for your decision?
36:41my freedom
36:49Pietro turned to this anti-racketeering organisation for help
36:53Alessandra Clemente has recently begun volunteering here
36:57it's a centre which provides support and legal advice
37:00for those who've been targeted by the Camorra
37:02it's a centre which provides support and legal advice
37:03for those who've been targeted by the Camorra
37:05all the lawyers who declare that they don't pay the racket
37:12and so I'm a citizen I choose to support spending my money
37:16that commercial activity
37:18for me given that I'm studying and I'm hoping to become a prosecutor
37:25coming here is very interesting because I learn how you can help someone who reports cases of extortion
37:31in this city a place like this is important
37:40people who have found the courage to fight back against crimes of extortion and loan shocking
37:46need to have that spark kindled
37:48if you don't have a place like this that spark will die out because it's a very hard road to go down alone
38:01over the past few years the Camorra hasn't only extorted money from business
38:06it's also gone into business
38:08making more money with less risk by appearing to go legit
38:12Camorra Inc. is a field in which prosecutor Simona Di Monte specialises
38:21for the Camorra it's much better to launder money which comes from drugs and from racketeering
38:30by reinvesting it into the world of business
38:33there are now entire sectors of business that are controlled by the Camorra
38:41in the area where I work for instance which has a very strong textile industry
38:47the Camorra has gone into the textile business
38:50in another area which is famous for mozzarella
38:53the Camorra goes into cheese making business
38:56it damages the free market because a Camorra business
38:59has no cash flow problems
39:02and can sell at a cut price
39:11and can sell at a cut price
39:14and so it completely destroys competition
39:17it is Camorra Inc.
39:19on bread, on wine, plastic bags, paper bags, meat, everything
39:29where there's business there's the Camorra
39:32so if I stay here in Naples for a month
39:36is it possible not to end up paying money to the Camorra?
39:38it's not possible
39:40the Camorra is into drugs, racketeering and business
39:52it's also into this
39:55waste
39:56every few months the city drowns in it
39:59and the locals blame the politicians and organized crime
40:03at times there are thousands of tons of household rubbish on Naples streets
40:11even down by the bay
40:14the crisis is so bad that the city has been under a state of emergency for the last 17 years
40:20and that's just the way the Camorra likes it
40:23the emergency status brings public funds
40:26and the clans are experts at tapping into them
40:29the bigger the river of state money
40:32the greater the opportunities for embezzlement by the Camorra
40:35which investigators say has muscled in on some of the waste companies
40:39there's an acute shortage of official landfill in the region
40:42but nobody in Naples wants rubbish dumped near them
40:45it could be deadly
40:49these demonstrators are angry about illegal dumping at a local public tip
40:54which is supposed to be used for domestic refuse
40:57lorries, some owned by Camorra Front companies
41:01are taking garbage to the tip
41:03and the protesters biggest fear
41:05is that they're also dumping poisonous toxic waste
41:08they're killing us with waste
41:11and the politicians aren't protecting us
41:14we're in a really bad way
41:16we're getting ill
41:18the Camorra isn't just boys going around on the streets with guns
41:24the Camorra is much more subtle than that
41:29most Neapolitans agree
41:31but these protesters are determined to do something about it
41:37later at the public tip
41:39they're checking every lorry
41:41they don't trust the local inspector here
41:46to keep out illegal tippers
41:48finally some of the lorries are turned away
41:51finally some of the lorries are turned away
42:16the land of the Naples region, Campania
42:27has been fabled for its fertility since Roman times
42:31for generations the fields around here
42:34have kept the people of southern Italy nourished
42:37but the Camorra has raked in billions
42:40by illegally dumping toxic waste on this land
42:44some farms have had to be abandoned altogether
42:53environmental campaigner Raffaele del Giudice
42:56agreed to show me the scale of the devastation
42:59the deadlier the cargo, the more lucrative
43:02much of it transported hundreds of miles
43:05from Italy's industrial north and even from abroad
43:08this is industrial waste
43:11filters, oil, waste from iron foundries, tires
43:15I was born here
43:18this is the land where I used to play
43:20there were farmers here, my relatives, my grandfather
43:23then they were chased away
43:24and under here they dumped toxic waste
43:26all of a sudden
43:31some of the farm laborers who worked in this area
43:32started having problems with their hands
43:34bad throats, blisters
43:37as a result of all the dump waste even mice were dying
43:40this is all in the findings of an official inquiry
43:44to add insult to injury
43:49acres of land polluted by the Camorras' poisonous waste
43:53has been used by the state to stockpile mountains of domestic rubbish
43:57it's bundled up and dumped in bales
44:00on top of toxic waste sites
44:02here they stretch as far as the eye can see
44:05tens of thousands of waste bales
44:08we're in this area here, look
44:1315 square kilometers
44:16and there are 43 waste dumps here
44:18legal and illegal
44:20so who controls things here?
44:23here the Camorras' race room
44:25Naples lies in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius
44:31an active volcano
44:33this road was built to quickly evacuate thousands of people
44:37the next time Vesuvius erupts
44:39which sooner or later it will
44:41but work on the escape route has stopped before it could be finished
44:47because the Camorra dumped tons of toxic waste
44:50including asbestos in its foundations
44:54prosecutor Simone Di Monte
44:57who's investigating the case
44:58took me there
45:00it's expensive to dispose of industrial waste
45:05the Camorra can do it at a knock-down price
45:08because it dumps it illegally
45:10in fields, disused quarries and under roads like this one
45:13on paper
45:15the waste looks as though it was disposed of
45:18but in fact it was only hidden
45:20in making its billions
45:25the Camorra has destroyed countless livelihoods
45:28and even lives
45:30I went to see these two farmers
45:32on the outskirts of Naples
45:34when I used to come here with my granddad
45:39you could drink the ground water
45:41you could scoop it up with a cauliflower leaf
45:44now it's all poison
45:46Mario Canava Cholo and his son Alessandro
45:49used to graze sheep on this land
45:51then something sinister began to happen
45:55day after day we noticed more and more of the animals heads were deformed
46:01and they had growths all over their bodies
46:03our animals started dying
46:06and when they started dying our herd was destroyed
46:09and when that happened the authorities sequestered everything
46:122,000 sheep were slaughtered by order
46:16the farmers claimed they were poisoned by illegally dumped deadly dioxins
46:20first time around it said that the dioxin level was 13 parts per trillion
46:24and what should it be?
46:263
46:283
46:29then my brother got sick
46:30and the doctor took blood samples
46:32my brother's sample showed 255 parts per trillion
46:35within 40 days there was nothing we could do
46:37he was eaten away
46:38what did he die of?
46:40he was riddled with cancer
46:42he was eaten up by it
46:44there is no conclusive evidence to back their claims
46:47but Italy's national research council
46:50has found that cancer rates in this part of the country
46:52are significantly higher than average
46:55a company produces the toxic waste
47:00it has to dispose of it somewhere
47:02but to do that you need a hell of a lot of money
47:04so it gets in touch with the politicians
47:06and the politicians go to the Camorra
47:08who in turn go to the people that can dump it on their behalf
47:10it's all connected
47:12it's all one delinquent organisation
47:14dumping on this scale has even scratched the cynicism of the Camorra
47:24there was a summit
47:29and someone with the tiniest amount of conscience said
47:32look, we're poisoning everything around here
47:35even the water
47:36and the boss answered
47:38what do we care?
47:39we drink mineral water
47:41as you see
47:44I drink bottled water
47:46not water from the tap
47:48why?
47:49because they poisoned everything here
47:54well, not everything around here is poisoned
47:57Naples mains water has not been polluted
48:00and look at this Camorra pizza
48:02all the ingredients here are of the highest quality
48:05they're also heavy with symbolism
48:08pomodori, melenzana, basilica
48:11all the goods from the Camorra
48:13all the goods from the Camorra
48:14all the goods from the social cooperative at Casal di Principe
48:16and also an excellent product
48:18yes, very good
48:20I'm hungry
48:21I'm hungry
48:22tonight, Alessandra Clemente and her family
48:25have come out to this anti-Camorra restaurant
48:27for a special feast
48:29a few days before her graduation
48:31this restaurant was created in a property once owned by people
48:47who became rich from drug trafficking, murders and racketeering
48:52it sends the strongest possible message in the fight against the Camorra
48:56and organized crime
48:58because you're hitting the Camorra in its pocket
49:01I simply won't accept that things have to stay as they are
49:04and that we must resign ourselves to them
49:07Naples' Camorra crisis is no longer just a local issue
49:12Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi promised to clamp down on the Camorra
49:16when he was elected three years ago
49:18and to solve Naples' rubbish crisis
49:21but three years later
49:30the rubbish is still on the streets of Naples
49:33and the Camorra is still here too
49:44some politicians have been accused of working with the Camorra
49:47including this man, Nicola Cosentino
49:51he's the leader of Mr. Berlusconi's party in this region
50:04he's in court after a Supergrass
50:06alleged that he'd enjoyed links to a Camorra company
50:08which illegally disposed of the toxic waste
50:11but Cosentino vehemently denies the charges
50:14after the hearing I found him at the courthouse coffee bar
50:20abroad you often hear people say
50:23that the Camorra could not exist without political support
50:26that it could never have survived so many years without it
50:29I agree
50:32but you need to address this question
50:34to those who have been in control in Campania
50:37for the last 20 years
50:39in the last 20 years
50:42there has been a centre-left party in power
50:45you've got to ask them
50:48how the Camorra has expanded here
50:50don't ask those who have always been in opposition
50:55and today have to defend themselves from accusations
51:00sure, but if you said that Camorra always does business with those in power
51:05this would surely now apply to you since you're now in power
51:09well, we've been in power now for six months
51:12we are still formulating our plan of action
51:15then we will address this issue
51:18but I also think
51:21that no government has taken on organised crime
51:24like the Berlusconi government
51:27but the sobering reality
51:36is that even clan leaders languishing in jails like this one
51:39can pull the political strings around here
51:42this is Naples's notorious Pogileale prison
51:45almost every Camorista is locked up here sooner or later
51:49prosecutor Simone Di Monte has just been in to interrogate a Camorra suspect
51:56it's essential for the Camorra to have links with politicians
52:04both at a local and national level
52:07the Camorra needs the politicians to look after its interests
52:13when they award public contracts
52:20and of course they're able to do this because they control their territory and their communities
52:28even from prison the Camorra leaders say who their preferred candidate is
52:34the Camorra racketeer knows exactly how it can work when organised crime decides to dabble in politics
52:47before the election the candidate will visit the head of the clan, the local big boss
52:53and he'll say, listen, you'll have to get me elected
52:57so if there's a thousand voters you need to secure five or six hundred
53:01sometimes with a gift, sometimes you pay their electric bill
53:04or you give them some cash
53:08how did you check on the people who voted?
53:11with mobile phones
53:14they used to take a picture of the ballot paper and show you outside
53:18until it was banned
53:20but you go to the families who have absolutely nothing
53:23and for a hundred euros they'll give you their vote
53:27who does the Camorra do deals with?
53:29with whoever's in power
53:31so the clans wouldn't do deals with the opposition?
53:35no
53:37why?
53:38because those with no power have nothing
53:44of course most politicians here do not have links to organised crime
53:48the Camorra relies on the corrupt ones
53:51but in this troubled city
53:53it also often gets support from a surprising quarter
53:57the public themselves
53:59not least because the Camorra is perceived as being far more efficient than the state
54:04the Camorra does not put itself into open conflict with the state
54:11it's more like a woodworm which eats into the body politic
54:15it takes the place of the state
54:18and it's all the more credible
54:20because it's able to offer the same services as the state
54:23in direct competition
54:25in modo sicuramente competitivo
54:30in the Camorra stronghold of Levele
54:32take this football pitch for instance
54:34according to residents here it's not courtesy of the local authority
54:37it's a gift from a clan boss
54:39in my field for instance the law
54:44everyone knows that you can get justice from the Camorra
54:49state justice is slow and its outcome is uncertain
54:53Camorra justice is immediate
54:56you can't appeal against it
54:58and it's very certain
55:00if a drug addict goes and robs someone
55:07the Camorra takes that person
55:09and makes them give back the money and goods they've stolen
55:12so even the police have to work less
55:15but if the Camorra's hold is so far reaching
55:21can Naples ever be free of it?
55:24one man who cut himself loose
55:27is the former Camorraista
55:28who became an actor
55:30every Camorraista has a bag full of arms
55:34four or five guns
55:35his rifle and a machine gun
55:37I gave them my arms as a present
55:39and then they finally understood that I had abandoned their world
55:42and I didn't want anything to do with it
55:44I didn't want anything to do with it
55:46but if the Camorra's hold is so far reaching
55:49and I didn't want anything to do with it
55:51anymore
55:52today is graduation day for Alessandra Clemente
55:56today is graduation day for Alessandra Clemente
56:00she needs a top mark of 110
56:15to give her a really good chance of becoming a prosecutor
56:18Alessandra Clemente
56:21her father, brother and grandparents have all come to share this emotional moment
56:35also there, to offer his good wishes, is the man from the other side of the tracks
56:46but with very similar ideals, Antonio Prestieri
56:50it's the most significant moment of my life and I'm with the people who mean the most to me
57:07I dedicate it to my mum
57:14as an Italian, I find it shaming that the Camorra should still have such a grip in a European democracy
57:22but its roots are so deep-seated that like many here, I struggle to imagine Naples without it
57:35few people can, whichever side of the law they stand on
57:39take away the word Naples and leave the word Camorra
57:43it's the city of the Camorra
57:46it's difficult if not impossible to imagine Naples without the Camorra
57:51but without the Camorra, Naples would be the most beautiful city
57:56but if Naples is to stand any chance of ridding itself of the Camorra
58:01it desperately needs young idealists like Alessandra and Antonio
58:06one day I can see my city without crime
58:11I can see it free and see how beautiful it is
58:14because this is one of the most beautiful cities in the world
58:17and that's a fact
58:19I know I am very small but all I have to do is turn around to find someone else like me
58:29we're many grains of sand but together we'll make a mountain
58:42stay with us here on BBC HD
58:44there's another chance to see episode 2 of The Hour in just a few moments
58:49we'll see you next time
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