Castello di Cisterna – In the "219" public housing district, where poverty bites and crime creeps in like a perpetual fog, the Carabinieri of Castello di Cisterna have put an end to yet another chapter in the "baby pusher" drama.
A 14-year-old boy, with the look of someone who's seen too many winters, was arrested with 40 doses of cocaine ready for sale and €470 in small bills. This isn't an isolated case: it's yet another example of a phenomenon that's devouring childhoods in the suburbs of Naples, where minors are recruited by youth gangs to run drug dealing centers, becoming expendable pawns in an unforgiving drug ring.
The operation took place in the heart of the "Legge 219" neighborhood, a cluster of gray, dilapidated buildings that the military of the Naples provincial command know like the back of their hand.
Here, drug checks are a daily routine: arrests, charges, and seizures follow one another in a virtuous but exhausting cycle, aimed at dismantling the networks plaguing the area. The Carabinieri, during a tight patrol, noticed a young boy walking with a hurried pace and a shifty gaze, his gaze fixed nervously on the Carabinieri patrol car.
Trapped between the public housing blocks of 219 in Castello di Cisterna
His agitated, almost unconscious behavior raised alarm bells: a classic sign of someone hiding something serious. Stopped and searched on the spot, the 14-year-old—who had recently blown out his birthday candles—did not resist.
In the pouch, investigators found irrefutable evidence: one-gram packets of cocaine, packaged for retail sale on the neighborhood streets, and a wad of cash, the result of who knows how many quick "transactions."
When questioned, the minor let out a blood-curdling sentence: "I don't know what else to do, there's no alternative."
Words spoken with the resignation of a mature man, one who has already tasted failure and despair, not of a teenager who should be chasing dreams, not lethal doses.
After being arrested for possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking, he was transferred to the Colli Aminei reception center, where social services and psychologists will attempt to rebuild a shattered future. But the Castello di Cisterna case is no exception: it's a piece in an alarming mosaic.
In Naples and its province, the recruitment of minors for drug dealing has exploded in recent years, with child gangs exploiting the vulnerability of the young to evade controls and reduce risks. In 2025 alone, operations like the police raid against child gangs in September resulted in 209 people being monitored and dozens of charges filed, revealing a criminal entity that thrives on these "child soldiers of the street."
In May, another raid in Scampia arrested several child drug dealers, confirming that these neighborhoods are open-air laboratories for the distribution of cocaine among the most vulnerable.
The phenomenon is not confined to the Vesuvius area: nationwide, Rome has recorded over 400 minors investigated for drug dealing in a single year, with outbreaks in neighborhoods like Tor Bella Monaca and Quarticciolo, where drugs become a currency for status and survival.
Experts and organizations like Libera denounce a "pyramid system" that begins with the Camorra gangs and ends with the street level: the child pushers earn little—often 50 euros a day—but risk everything, including their freedom and their lives.
It's a silent war against denied childhood, which is why the controls, while intense, must be accompanied by more effective prevention policies: schools, sports centers, and reintegration programs to pull these kids out of the cycle of addiction.
While the 14-year-old from Castello di Cisterna awaits the Juvenile Court's verdict, the question lingers in the neighborhood's humid air: how many other "young men" are marching toward the same fate? The Carabinieri promise not to give up, but more is needed: a city that isn't satisfied with arrests, but restores hope to those who, at 14, have already lost too much of it.
All Rights ReservedArticle published on October 15, 2025 - 08:08 PM - Giuseppe Del Gaudio
It's a tragic situation for young people involved in drug dealing, especially in neighborhoods like 219. Children should be protected, not exploited. It's important that more initiatives be put in place to help them.
Comments (1)
It's a tragic situation for young people involved in drug dealing, especially in neighborhoods like 219. Children should be protected, not exploited. It's important that more initiatives be put in place to help them.