IACP apartment building clans forced drug dealers to pay protection money: "Those who refused risked death."

Santa Maria Capua Vetere – Pay €200 a month or buy drugs at a higher price. The alternative was death. This is the extortion scheme uncovered by the State Police and the Naples District Anti-Mafia Directorate during an operation that led to the arrest of 19 people in the Caserta area on Thursday morning.

At the center of the investigation is Vincenzo Santone, head of the criminal organization that controlled drug trafficking in the IACP neighborhood of Santa Maria Capua Vetere. Santone, linked through his wife to the Belforte clan of Marcianise, had assumed near-absolute power in the neighborhood: he personally decided who could occupy the available public housing, turning IACP homes into bargaining chips to strengthen his control over the area.

The extortion mechanism was clear and relentless. Drug dealers operating in the area were forced to pay a fixed monthly fee of €200 or purchase the drugs at a higher price. "The alternative to this diktat was death," explained Massimiliano Russo, head of the Caserta Flying Squad, during a press conference at the Naples Prosecutor's Office.

The meeting with journalists was attended by Prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, Juvenile Prosecutor Patrizia Imperato, Deputy Prosecutor Michele Del Prete, and Caserta Police Chief Andrea Grassi. The operation represents a significant blow to organized crime in the Caserta area.