The new Camorra of Scampia: the hunt is now on for fugitive boss Elia Cancello.

With the arrest of Gennaro Cifarieilo in Tenerife, Spain, the circle has almost completely closed on the new clan that had taken control of the Seven Palaces, the Chalet Baku, and the Oasi del Buon Pastore in Scampia.

The only person missing from the roll call is the one considered by investigators and indicated by informants as the new and most dangerous boss: Elia Cancello.

The pact of the two generations: the old guard and the new entrepreneurs of the clan

There was no break, but continuity. In the documents of the District Anti-Mafia Directorate for 2024–2025, the handover between the old guard and the new generation of the Scampia and Secondigliano clans appears to be a slow genetic transformation, rather than a revolution.

A carefully planned trial behind bars in Secondigliano and Santa Maria Capua Vetere, where the elderly regents—Elia and Maurizio Cancello, Gennaro Cifariello and their father Ferdinando, Luigi Diano known as Cicciotto, and Enzo Notturro—prepared the groundwork for the young men destined to carry on their legacy.

The court documents speak clearly: power never stopped beyond the prison walls. Wiretaps and conversations monitored by GOM agents reveal an intact chain of command, transmitted through the usual methods—notes, coded messages, knowing glances during family visits.

According to a report from the Naples DDA, "the inmates maintained direct contact with the outside world through handwritten notes handed out during interviews, containing information on drug dealing locations, economic agreements, and criminal alliances."

One of those notes, seized in June 2024 in the High Security section of Secondigliano prison, contained words that today sound like a declaration of intent:

"These creatures are ready. They just need to learn to keep a low profile. The money comes without shooting."

That phrase—attributable to Luigi Diano, according to investigators—marks a turning point: the new entrepreneurial Camorra was born from the directives of the old bosses.
The same people who, until 2016, controlled drug dealing centers and blood feuds, now teach young people how to navigate tenders, cooperatives, and "rigged" subcontracts.

The DDA identifies three family nuclei on which the generational transition has taken place:

The Cancello family, long the Amato-Pagano group's point of reference in the Lotto G area; the Diano group, rooted in the Sette Palazzi area and specialized in managing drug trafficking hubs and money laundering through small construction companies; and the Notturno network, historic figures who today act as guarantors and advisors.

According to the statements of collaborator Raffaele Paone, known as Rafaniello, "the young people of the clan do not need orders, they have been given a role model."
A model based on silence, apparent normality, and the use of legal tools as cover: businesses, neighborhood cooperatives, and companies registered in the names of women and unsuspecting relatives.

The notes, recovered during the searches of 2024 and 2025, contained precise financial information: figures, company names, references to "supplies" and "services."
No longer the geography of drug dealing squares, but that of construction sites and public subcontracts.
Yet the language was the same as always, made up of nicknames, numerical codes and abbreviations.
One of the notes seized in Secondigliano prison—now part of the trial records—read: "The boy from Melito must watch out for those from Casoria. They're hungry and aren't respecting their agreements. Tell him that the work will only be done if he comes to us."

According to investigators, the "boy from Melito" was hiding a young entrepreneur close to the Diano group, responsible for managing the entry of several companies into road cleaning and maintenance contracts.
A way to extend the clan's control beyond the squares, right up to the municipal offices.

Paone, in the minutes given between November and December 2024, reconstructs the meaning of this new intergenerational alliance: «Elia (Cancello) was like a father to the newcomers. He guided them forward, but always under the control of the older ones. Everything they did had to go through Cicciotto or Enzo Notturro. No one acted alone.

This “two-lane” organization allowed the clans to maintain stability even during the phases of maximum investigative pressure.

While the bosses issued directives from prison, the young men cultivated contacts with businesses, sought new money laundering channels, and reinvested the proceeds in seemingly clean businesses: construction, catering, car washes, and environmental services.
Everything mapped out, everything formally legal—but with the same logic of territorial domination that characterized the Camorra twenty years ago.

According to DDAThis balance between old and young has created a new era of criminal peace between Scampia and Secondigliano, the result not of moral peace but of economic expediency. This time, bloodshed is no longer needed.

All it takes is a signed document, a contract awarded, a guaranteed percentage. In the language of the new bosses, "the square" has become "the construction site."
And the notes that once decided the Camorra wars, today regulate business.

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(Pictured from left: Elia Cancello, his brother Maurizio, Ferdinando Cifariello, and his son Gennaro)