Naples – A roar in the dead of night, yet another sign that something is still stirring in the streets of San Pietro a Patierno. A makeshift bomb exploded outside the Passione Culinaria pizzeria, a place that had been open for just 24 hours.
The shock wave struck the rolling shutter, damaging the entrance and some of the interior furnishings. No one was injured, but residents and business owners in the area were left in a state of fear.
Officers from the Secondigliano State Police station arrived on the scene and began their initial investigation. The owner, interviewed after brief information, assured them he had never received extortion demands or threats: "I can't explain why they hit my business," he told the officers, still shaken.
Investigators, however, appear to have no doubts about the motive behind the attack. A homemade bomb, planted at night, is almost always synonymous with racketeering. A clear message, directed at all the neighborhood's business owners: pay the protection money, especially around the Christmas holidays, when the flow of money increases and criminal organizations seek to assert their control.
San Pietro a Patierno falls within the area historically controlled by the Licciardi clan, the leaders of the Secondigliano Alliance, recently weakened by a raid that led to over twenty arrests. This is a severe blow to the clan, but it could push its remaining members to reassert their presence with demonstrations, such as last night's explosion.
The investigation continues: officers are acquiring video surveillance footage and reconstructing the movements of the people in the hours immediately preceding the explosion. But fear has returned to the neighborhood.
And to think that just yesterday afternoon in that same area there was an anti-racketeering walk organized by the FAI.
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