- today
Documentary, BBC.This world's bloodiest mafia, Camorra
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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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