A double ambush in the Spanish Quarters targeting a young footballer and a 17-year-old has resulted in four arrests, two of which are minors.

A double ambush in the Spanish Quarters targeted young footballer Umberto Catanzaro and then a 17-year-old: the perpetrators have a shared first and last name.

The blood shed in Via Conte di Mola, in the Spanish Quarter, on September 15th was not an isolated incident.It was just the latest chapter in an underground war between juvenile gangs for control of illicit activities and nightclubs in the densest area of ​​Naples' historic center.

A little over a month after the ambush, the District Anti-Mafia Directorate and the Naples Juvenile Prosecutor's Office have closed ranks around four people: a 46-year-old man, a 21-year-old woman, and two boys, aged 16 and 17, all Neapolitans, arrested by the Carabinieri of the Naples Central Company on charges of attempted murder aggravated by mafia methods.

The ambush on the night of September 15th

According to investigators' reconstruction, that night the Spanish Quarter area transformed into a theater of war. Gunfire shattered the silence of Via Conte di Mola, where two young men, the 23-year-old soccer player Umberto Catanzaro and then a 17-year-old, were targeted by a commando on a scooter.

One of the bullets hit the 23-year-old in the abdomen: the boy, rescued in desperate conditions, is still hospitalized.

According to investigators, the armed action was based on a specific plan: to send a message of strength at a time of growing tension between rival youth gangs, intent on dividing up not only drug dealing areas but also control of the bars, restaurants, and nightclubs in the neighborhood's most touristy alleys.

The roles of the commando

The 46-year-old, already under house arrest, is said to have taken to the streets with his 16-year-old son and an as yet unidentified accomplice. They, armed and riding a scooter, are said to have fired shots at the victims.

The 21-year-old, on the other hand, is said to have played a logistical support role: according to what was ascertained, she is said to have helped one of the minors disguise himself inside a B&B and leave on a scooter with a covered license plate, providing support and cover for her accomplices.

From cameras to truth

The investigation, coordinated by anti-mafia and juvenile magistrates, relied on a dense network of public and private video surveillance, cross-referenced with witness statements and wiretaps.

Meticulous work by the military personnel of the Naples Central Company, which, step by step, allowed them to reconstruct the circumstantial evidence and outline the roles of the four suspects.

Precautionary measures

After validating the arrest warrants, the preliminary investigations judges ordered the two adults to be held in prison, while the minors were placed in a juvenile detention center and a protected community.

The investigation continues, with investigators determined to shed light on the entire criminal network fueling the new urban feud in the Spanish Quarters, where the line between nightlife and crime is increasingly blurred.

A disturbing sign

The incident on Via Conte di Mola is just the latest in a long trail of youth-led armed violence sweeping through the heart of Naples. Young men barely out of their teens, ready to shoot to assert a fleeting power, today no longer tied solely to drugs or extortion, but also to controlling the economic flows of the clubs, bars, and tourism that liven up the city's alleyways.

A multi-million dollar business that the new Camorra recruits and baby gangs are competing for with increasingly ruthless ferocity.