Casamarciano, €18,500 paid to the Russo clan for a package of votes. The mayor of Cicciano is also under investigation.

Diciottomila e cinquecento euro. Tanto sarebbe costato, secondo la Direzione distrettuale antimafia di Napoli, il pacchetto di voti promesso dal clan Russo ad Andrea Manzi, allora candidato mayor a Casamarciano alle amministrative di giugno 2023. Manzi, 65 anni, oggi consigliere comunale di opposizione, si presentava con la lista Casamarciano libera e giusta e ha chiuso la corsa al municipio al terzo posto, con il 28,1% dei consensi, alle spalle del sindaco poi eletto, Clemente Primiano, e di Carmela De Stefano.

Investigators' hypothesis is that Manzi accepted a promise to procure votes made by Sebastiano De Capua, believed to be a member of the Russo clan and now under a precautionary prison sentence. In exchange, according to the prosecution, he would have agreed to pay €18.500 and "make the future administration available" to meet the criminal group's interests and needs if elected.

This segment of the investigation is part of the broader operation that, at dawn, led to the execution of 44 precautionary measures—34 in prison and 10 under house arrest—against members and supporters of the Russo and Licciardi clans, historically rooted in the Nolano area and the Neapolitan hinterland.

The raid was conducted by the Carabinieri of the Castello di Cisterna group, with the support of approximately 250 soldiers, under the coordination of the Neapolitan DDA.

The investigating judge's refusal to accept Manzi's measures

Despite the picture reconstructed by investigators, the preliminary investigations judge of the Court of Naples, Isabella Iselli, rejected the request to apply a precautionary measure against Manzi.

The request was made by public prosecutors Henry John Woodcock and Vincenzo Toscano, who were in charge of the case regarding the alleged influence of the Russo clan on the vote in Casamarciano.

The preliminary investigations judge's decision currently rules out restrictions on the opposition councilor's personal freedom, and he remains under investigation and will have to defend himself in the proceedings. The order, signed by Iselli, is the same one that ordered the dozens of arrests made today and represents one of the first judicial steps in an investigation that is set to have political repercussions in the municipalities involved.

Cicciano, the mayor under investigation

La mano lunga dei clan sulle urne, secondo la ricostruzione degli investigatori, non si sarebbe fermata a Casamarciano. Già nel 2022 e poi nel 2023 i Russo avrebbero tentato – e in parte riuscito – a condizionare le consultazioni amministrative in due comuni del Napoletano: Cicciano e la stessa Casamarciano.

In the Cicciano case, the investigation centers on the incumbent mayor, Giuseppe Caccavale. He is among those under investigation for political-mafia election-rigging in the same investigation coordinated by the Naples Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA) into Russo and Licciardi. According to the documents, Caccavale allegedly reached an agreement with clan members ahead of the May 14 and 15, 2023, local elections.

According to investigators' reconstruction, the mayor allegedly accepted, through an intermediary, the promise of a pool of votes controlled by Russo clan members, promising in exchange to guarantee "benefits" to the criminal group once they obtained the tricolor sash. In those elections, Caccavale was actually elected with 51,6% of the vote, narrowly beating his opponent Giovanni Corrado, who had 48,5%.

However, Caccavale's request for a precautionary measure—in this case, house arrest—made by prosecutors Woodcock and Toscano was rejected by investigating judge Isabella Iaselli. The mayor therefore remains under investigation, but is at liberty, pending further developments in the investigation.

Both Manzi and Caccavale, like all the other defendants, are to be considered innocent until proven guilty, and will have the opportunity to respond to the charges during the ongoing proceedings.

The shadow of the clans over Monteforte Irpino

The clans' alleged scope of action is not limited to the province of Naples. Among those targeted by the Carabinieri's measures is a candidate in the upcoming municipal elections in Monteforte Irpino, a town in the province of Avellino scheduled to vote on Sunday, November 23rd and Monday, November 24th, after being dissolved due to mafia infiltration.

The suspect is Giovanni Mazzola, 38, a City Council candidate on the È ora list, supporting Fabio Siricio, who investigators describe as completely unrelated to the investigation. The investigating judge has ordered Mazzola to be placed under house arrest. The charge, in this case, does not directly concern vote-buying, but rather the crime of illegal gambling and betting, aggravated by mafia-related motives.

The disputed facts date back to a period prior to his candidacy, but the presence of his name in the ordinance, close to a referendum already marked by the dissolution of the municipality due to mafia-related allegations, reinforces the image of an area still permeable to criminal interests.

The framework of the DDA investigation

The operation, coordinated by the Naples District Anti-Mafia Office—led by Prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, with Deputy Prosecutor Sergio Ferrigno and Deputy Prosecutor Henry John Woodcock at the forefront—aims to dismantle a system that, according to the charges, intertwines illicit trafficking, gambling and betting, territorial control, and attempts to interfere in the local democratic process.

The investigation, conducted by the Carabinieri of the Castello di Cisterna group, led by Commander Paolo Leoncini, and the Investigative Unit, under the command of Major Andrea Coratza, has put under scrutiny not only the military capabilities of the Russo and Licciardi clans, but also their alleged strategy of infiltrating municipal institutions, through "friendly" candidates or those willing to negotiate deals of convenience.

The DDA's approach appears clear: reconstruct the scope of the agreements between politicians and the Camorra, challenge incidents of political-mafia electoral exchange, and, at the same time, target the economic networks that finance the clans, as in the case of illegal gambling.

Between politics and legality

The charges against incumbent and aspiring councilors now threaten to have a significant impact on the political life of Cicciano, Casamarciano, and Monteforte Irpino. In the first two Neapolitan municipalities, the shadow of the Camorra looms over very recent elections, while in the Irpinia center, the judicial operation follows a path already marked by the dissolution of the city council due to mafia infiltration.

In all cases, those involved remain presumed innocent until a final verdict is reached, and for some of the suspects, the judicial authorities themselves have deemed the conditions for imposing restrictive measures not currently present. However, the documents reveal a relationship between clans and segments of local politics that, according to the prosecution, continues to seek influence at the ballot box in Southern Italy.