The Sanità district is not only one of Naples' historic heartlands, a maze of alleyways nestled alongside noble palaces, catacombs, and centuries-old churches. For decades, it has also been one of the most sensitive fronts in the city's criminal landscape. Here, alliances are fragile, hegemonies are never definitive, and every balance is destined to be challenged.
The 134-page precautionary order signed by preliminary investigations judge Ivana Savarese captures a precise moment in this instability: the final months of 2024 and much of 2025, a period marked – according to the Prosecutor's Office – by renewed criminal tension and the Sequino/Savarese clan's attempt to reassert its dominance over the neighborhood through visible and continuous armed control.
The context: a contested neighborhood and those streets that never sleep
The Sanità district has long been a volatile area in criminal circles. Old hegemonies are never definitive, new recruits seek space, and the boundaries between gangs shift by a few meters, often at night. It is in this climate that, between the end of 2024 and the whole of 2025, investigators are recording an increase in "criminal fibrillation."
The Prosecutor's Office places the events within a phase of reorganization of the Camorra's political balance. The Sequino-Savarese clan, a historic force in the area, responded by strengthening its military presence in the area. Not to strike, but to deter. Not to shoot, but to make it known that the weapons are there.
Cameras: Power told through images
The heart of the investigation is an investigative camera installed on Via Gradini San Nicandro. It films a public place, without audio, without wiretaps. But for months it records everything: who arrives, who leaves, who stays. And above all, how they stay.
The images show groups forming and dissolving, men moving together with a naturalness that—according to investigators—is no accident. Weapons appear and disappear, but the postures of their bodies, the ever-ready hands, the repeated gestures speak clearly to those who understand that language.
The judicial police recognized the individuals: they were already familiar faces, some already convicted, others still connected to the neighborhood's criminal network. Thus, the videos became the backbone of the prosecution's case.
The role of justice collaborator Salvatore Giuliano
The voice of Salvatore Giuliano, a collaborator with justice, also reinforces the picture. His statements don't introduce new names, but they do add depth to the images.
Giuliano explains the method: in the Sanità district, control isn't exercised solely through extortion or drug dealing, but through armed physical presence. "Stare sotto," as it's called in jargon, means being seen, occupying space, preventing others from moving.
The collaborator describes the Savarese clan as a group that uses weapons primarily as a tool of preemptive intimidation. There's no point in shooting if just showing off is enough. Armed patrols serve to reassure members, discourage rivals, and remind the neighborhood who makes the rules.
Giuliano's words fit with the videos: same places, same methods, same times. For the Prosecutor's Office, this is a crucial cross-check.
The sequence of events: a strategy, not isolated episodes
Not a dramatic action, not an isolated attack, but a slow and methodical strategy, built day after day.
Via Gradini San Nicandro: the parade ground
The focal point of the investigative reconstruction is Via Gradini San Nicandro. A seemingly marginal street, it actually becomes the group's operational hub. It's here that the suspects meet, stop, and observe. It's here, according to investigators, that the neighborhood's criminal climate is gauged.
An investigative camera, installed in a public place, records the same faces, the same movements, the same rituals for months. The images don't capture words, but they reveal much more: postures, attitudes, repeated gestures. Hands sliding down pants, stiff silhouettes under jackets, weapons passing from one person to another.
The Prosecutor's Office speaks of "armed meetings," designed to ensure a stable, intimidating presence. Case law allows this: those images, collected without intercepting conversations, become fully usable evidence.
The method: show yourself to command
The common thread linking all the charges is a display of power. The suspects, believed to be associated with or connected to the Savarese clan, don't operate in the shadows. Instead, they patrol the territory in groups, often numbering more than five, carrying firearms in open public spaces.
According to the prosecution, it's a direct message: the neighborhood is under surveillance, every entrance and every movement is being monitored. It's an ancient mafia language, which retains all its effectiveness in the Sanità district.
The armed chronicle: one episode after another
The order lists an impressive sequence of episodes, which, when read in chronological order, take on the form of a true criminal diary.
March 13, 2024
It's one of the first signs. Gennaro De Marino and Ciro Esposito were filmed together illegally carrying a firearm. The Prosecutor's Office already identified this incident as aggravated by mafia-related circumstances: not an individual act, but an action serving the clan.
February 1, 2025
The group grows. De Marino, Esposito, La Salvia, Massaro, and Peraino are now armed, numbering more than five. This increase in numbers marks a new phase: their presence is no longer sporadic, but collective.
3 and 6 February 2025
The number of weapons increases: two pistols appear on the street, in close succession. Esposito, La Salvia, Massaro, and Peraino take turns filming. The frequency is a key factor for investigators.
March 6, 2025
Five men—Babalyan, Massaro, Esposito, Peraino, and Zinzi—are documented with three firearms. The group takes on a stable appearance, almost a patrol.
June 11, 2025
Esposito appears again, armed, with unidentified individuals. The temporal continuity reinforces the hypothesis of a single criminal plan.
June 28, 2025
It's one of the most significant moments: four weapons carried simultaneously by Amodio, Massaro, Esposito, Zinzi, and Peraino. A true military garrison.
August and September 2025: the escalation
From August 29th to September 13th, the images reveal an almost daily presence. A gun on August 29th. Five weapons on September 2nd. Then again: September 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 12th, and 13th. The faces change, not the substance. In one case, a disguised individual even appears.
For the Prosecutor's Office, this is proof of total control, exercised without interruption.
October 10, 2025. The latest disputed incident closes the circle: large group, weapons, familiar methods. The picture is complete.
Criminal profiles
The order also highlights the criminal records of some of the suspects. Babalyan, De Marino, and Peraino have a history of repeat offenses within five years. Esposito's recidivism is specific. Massaro and Zinzi have multiple recidivism records. This, according to the judge, increases the risk of repeat offenses and justifies their pretrial detention.
A neighborhood under observation
Read as a whole, the investigation paints a picture of a healthcare system caught between history and fear. The streets become checkpoints, the steps become lookouts, and nighttime becomes the privileged moment to reaffirm who's in charge.
Not a declared war, but constant, silent, and armed pressure. This, according to the Prosecutor's Office, is the Savarese clan's method during the period reconstructed in the indictment.
The suspects
Amodio Luis Antonio, Naples, December 18, 2001
Babalyan Alexandr, Astrakhan (Russian Federation), November 21, 1999
De Marino Gennaro, Naples, June 1, 2001
Esposito Ciro, Naples, June 18, 1986
Salvia Salvatore, Naples, December 28, 1998
Massaro Francesco Pio, Naples, September 11, 2003
Peraino Danilo, Naples, July 29, 1998
Zinzi Ivan, Naples, July 28, 1993
(In the photo, the San Nicandro Steps and, from top left, Ciro Esposito, Danilo Peraino, Aleaxander Babylan, and Ivan Zinzi; at the bottom, again from left, Antonio Luisi Amodio, Gennaro Amodio, Salvatore La Salvia, and Francesco Pio Massaro)
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
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