Not just drugs, extortion, or contracts. The D'Alessandro clan, the historic rulers of Castellammare di Stabia, had also caught wind of "clean" business—or at least it seemed so. Coffee, sugar, beverages: common commodities, but capable of generating revenue and local consensus when sold or imposed by Camorra members.
This is what emerges from the second investigation by the Naples District Anti-Mafia Directorate, which has brought to light the Scanzano clan's new dealings. Investigators are targeting Pasquale Esposito, 50, son-in-law of Luigi D'Alessandro, known as "Gigginiello," the clan's longtime boss, who was released after nearly thirty years in prison. He is also the brother of the late godfather Michele D'Alessandro.
According to investigators, it was Esposito himself who managed the "forced" distribution of coffee and sugar to the city's bars, taking advantage of his family's influence.
The second investigation and the new arrests
His name appears in the investigation that led to the arrests of Daniele Amendola, 45, owner of the New Life ambulance company, and Luigi Staiano, 37, son of Maria D'Alessandro, daughter of Gigginiello and cousin of the clan's leaders. Staiano himself—already known to the press for imposing a "beverage" service inside the Romeo Menti stadium—is identified as the operational arm of the coffee business.
A deal that, according to investigators, served to reaffirm the clan's presence even in the most everyday economic circles: anyone who wanted to sell or buy coffee in Castellammare had to go through them.
The two factions and the coffee war
The spark ignited in the summer of 2021. The bugs installed by the Carabinieri documented a real family dispute between two branches of the D'Alessandro family: on one side Giovanni D'Alessandro, son of Vincenzo known as "Enzuccio", and Giuseppe Oscurato, on the other Pasquale Esposito and his stepson Luigi Staiano.
The bone of contention? Precisely the management of coffee distribution.
A seemingly innocuous market, but in the language of the Camorra it becomes synonymous with territory, revenue, and power.
The former—Giovanni and Oscurato—simply sold the product. The latter, Esposito and Staiano, imposed it with the clan name. A well-established mechanism: the merchant didn't choose, "I'll bring you the coffee, and that's it."
The conversation at the family lunch
On June 3, 2021, Carabinieri wiretaps intercepted a long conversation at the home of Giuseppe Oscurato's in-laws. Oscurato himself recounted, in a resentful tone, what was happening in the bars in the center of Castellammare di Stabia:
“I went to the bar ...omissis.., the one in the middle of the Villa… they already have coffee..., but Pasquale wanted to bring it to him anyway. He threw it on the floor, without saying anything. He dictates the coffee, he doesn't offer it…”.
Oscurato explains that he and Giovanni D'Alessandro were trying to sell their coffee “honestly,” but every time they tried to offer it, they found their way blocked by Pasquale Esposito's men.
The conversation becomes a small glimpse of power and fear: the trader who refuses to accept the supply risks losing his license or worse; those who accept it must do so silently, without "showing anything to anyone."
The bar and the fear of shopkeepers
The barista's name comes up several times in the wiretaps: he is the owner of a well-known business on Corso Garibaldi, representing a well-known coffee brand for fifty years.
According to Oscurato, Pasquale Esposito had imposed the new "family" café on him, sparking tension:
“He told me, 'If they want to come in here with another coffee, they'll have to give me one hundred thousand euros to settle...-..omissis... the contracts'… And I told him he was right. But then his son revealed to me that Pasquale had already come to offer it to him, and that he had even brought it to him for a while.”
From then on, the atmosphere becomes heated. Esposito refuses to accept being "rejected": a few days later, Oscurato continues, he enters the bar and dumps the coffee on the floor, by force.
A gesture that smacks of intimidation, of affront, but also of a message to rival Giovanni D'Alessandro: "this territory is mine."
Threats and family escapes
After that episode, the rift became irreparable. Subsequent wiretaps revealed that Vincenzo D'Alessandro, known as "Enzuccio," Giovanni's father, and his wife expressed their willingness to resort to violence against Esposito and Staiano.
A real internal war, like in the old days of the Scanzano clan, only now the loot is not a shipment of drugs or a contract, but a coffee monopoly.
The same wiretaps show that Esposito, during the same months, was engaged daily in the widespread distribution of the product: bars, tobacconists, shops, even offices. This work, according to the Carabinieri, was an extortion network disguised as a commercial activity.
Then, in August 2021, the dramatic turn of events: Pasquale Esposito left Castellammare and moved to Nettuno, in Lazio. But even that, investigators explain, was not a voluntary choice.
“It was a deliberate departure from his own group,” the investigators write, “to prevent the internal war from escalating and to safeguard relations with Vincenzo D'Alessandro's branch.”
A matter of coffee and blood
Behind cups and bags of sugar, there was much more than just trade.
There was a system of power that transformed every bar into a showcase of the clan, every supply into a sign of belonging, every coffee into a tax imposed with a smile.
The “clan café,” as investigators call it today, was the new frontier of racketeering, an updated form of territorial control.
Changes and revisions to this article
- Article updated on 13/11/2025 at 08:32 - Article revised
- Article updated on 13/11/2025 at 09:20 - Content updated
- Article updated on 13/11/2025 at 09:20 - Article revised
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Comments (3)
The Camorra appears to have deep roots in the region and even in the "cleanest" sectors of the economy. It's sad to see how violence can infiltrate every aspect of people's daily lives.
I think it's incredible how the clan can influence even the smallest businesses. Coffee is an everyday occurrence, but in this case it becomes a frightening symbol of power and control.
The article discusses very serious matters, but it strikes me as strange how someone could set up a coffee business. It's not something you'd expect from a clan. There's a lot to think about.