Castel Volturno – Eleven arrests, including two minors, and the dismantling of a drug dealing ring that for years had transformed the "Royal Residence," a gigantic nine-story building with 240 apartments, into a veritable criminal enclave.
This is the result of a raid by the Mondragone Carabinieri, coordinated by the Naples District Anti-Mafia Directorate, who at dawn executed two precautionary custody orders issued by the Naples preliminary investigations judge and the Juvenile Court.
The suspects—who remain presumed innocent until a final sentence is reached—are held responsible, to varying degrees, for conspiracy to traffic narcotics, aggravated by mafia methods, use of firearms, and hundreds of retail drug sales.
Giovanni Gabriele, his wife Flora Caianiello, and their son Salvatore were responsible for running the drug trafficking ring using violence and threats. They were also jailed along with Ivan D'Aniello, Vittorio Rovati, Emanuele Sammmarco, a foreign citizen, and two minors.
In another home, two minor daughters of one of the arrested men were entrusted to their grandparents.
The only foreigner to end up in prison is an Indian citizen, identified by investigators as the coordinator of the retail drug dealing, an activity often carried out by drug-addicted compatriots who lived near the building and resold drugs to obtain their daily fix.
The investigation, which lasted over two years, allowed the reconstruction of a stable and structured organization, capable of replicating in the province of Caserta the drug dealing dynamics typical of the places controlled by Neapolitan organized crime.
The Royal Residence, like Scampia: cameras, lookouts, and only one access point.
According to investigators, the drug dealing square replicated models already seen in Scampia's 167: a single entrance road under constant surveillance, lookouts on the roof and along the condominium corridors, and a system of video cameras installed to anticipate the movements of the police.
The very structure of the mega-condominium—long corridors, dilapidated apartments, internal stairways that were difficult to monitor—had favored the emergence of widespread surveillance, transforming the building into a stronghold for illicit drug trafficking.
The Bidognetti faction of the Casalesi clan, historically rooted in the Domitian coast, was said to have granted the green light for the activity. This criminal patronage, according to the DDA, ensured protection and continuity for the group's business, composed largely of individuals from Secondigliano.
Violence and retaliation: Residents under a regime of terror
The testimonies collected and the findings of the investigators describe a climate of violent intimidation, imposed to maintain silence and prevent complaints.
A Polish citizen who dared to oppose the imposed rules was shot in the leg. In two other cases, apartments were set on fire: the first, the home of a Polish family, who were forced to leave the building and disappear from the area; the second, the home of an employee of the condominium administrator, who had attempted to restore legality and decorum to a building now reduced to disrepair.
The night raid: escapes blocked and drugs already divided into doses
Several suspects attempted to evade capture by taking refuge in nearby apartments. To prevent escape routes, the Carabinieri cordoned off the entire area, including the beach access and the nearby Saraceno Park, a maze of abandoned buildings often used as hideouts.
Inside the complex, numerous quantities of narcotics were found, already divided into doses ready for sale. This further evidence, according to investigators, confirms the 24-hour operation of the complex.
A community trying to be reborn
For residents, the operation represents a moment of relief after years of abuse. The Royal Residence now hopes to turn the page and begin a process of social and administrative remediation. The future of the building will also depend on the institutions' ability to reestablish a stable presence of law and order in an area too long left in the hands of criminal organizations.
(in the photo Giovanni Gabriele, his son Salvatore, his wife Flora Caianiello, Vittorio Rovati, Ivan D'Aniello and Emanuele Sammarco)
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