"I'll rip your head off, make your wife do...": this is how the Moccia clan wanted to devour Tuscany.

There's a fine line between a normal commercial dispute and the hell of mafia-style extortion. In Poggibonsi and Monteriggioni, in the peaceful and productive heart of the Siena province, this boundary was brutally erased in the spring of 2025.

A construction site has transformed into a criminal stronghold, an outpost where state law has yielded to the Camorra's arrogance. Shedding light on this dark affair is the precautionary order signed by Florence investigating judge Alessandro Moneti, resulting from the "Contractos" raid, which led to the arrest of 11 people accused of extortion aggravated by mafia methods, connected to or affiliated with the fearsome Moccia clan of Afragola.

It all begins seemingly mundanely. Raffaele Panico, a construction contractor from Castel Voturno and managing director of PR Appalti srl, agrees with Michele Palmerini and Michele Cannoni, owners of Re. Strutture srl, to complete some construction work "in bulk" for a total value of €16.000.

But what was supposed to be a simple subcontracting arrangement turned out to be a deadly trap. In March, the tone of the reminders changed: no longer accounting requests, but peremptory orders, inflated beyond measure, demanding over €160.000.

"I'm a tough guy, a Camorrista"

The one weaving the web of intimidation is Giuseppe Castiello, born in 1979, who proclaims himself the true master of the company's fortunes. The wiretaps and WhatsApp messages included in the investigation reveal a vocabulary of brutal and raw violence. Castiello doesn't mince words to make it clear who's in charge: "Do you know who I am? I'm Castiello Giuseppe, professionally known as Peppe Castiello, known to the police. I'm a tough guy, a member of the Camorra... I get the money where and when I want."

And to make sure the message gets through loud and clear to the now-terrified businessmen, he adds the burden of mafia intimidation: "Your only safety net is the barracks next door. But if they arrest me, I'll keep 20 more soldiers... I'll keep another thousand soldiers ready."

Faced with the victims' inability to raise tens of thousands of euros in just a few days, the phone calls devolve into a macabre barrage of death threats: "I'll stone you," "I'll rip your head off," "I'll gouge out your eyes, come to Florence, and rip your heart out." Faced with the desperate objections of one of the partners ("How am I going to wire you the money, with air?"), Castiello's response is chilling: "Put your wife to work, put your sister to work."

The siege and the barricades at Monteriggioni

The Moccia method isn't limited to telephone terror. The gang implements a full-blown physical, "military" occupation of the construction site. In April, Castiello's men (including his son Gennaro, Giovanni Del Prete, and Claudio Zanfardino) chase away the surveyors and employees of the victim company: "Until you pay, the construction site is ours. Take your things and leave."

In May, the criminal arrogance spilled over the construction site, affecting the institutions and the local community of Monteriggioni. On May 7th, the gang members created veritable barricades with debris in the street, blocking access. Giuseppe Castiello even went so far as to stalk the head of the adjacent nursery school, ordering her to close the school: "It's better if you don't let the children come to school tomorrow because we'll be carrying out much bigger actions."

When the Municipal Police intervened to escort the municipal technicians—blocked and terrorized by the protesters—to restore the cut-off electricity, Castiello beats his chest, confronts the officer, shouting and threatening his children, then grants access to the meters with criminal magnanimity only because "the fault affects children and children are not to be touched."

The investigating judge: "The Moccia clan has exported its criminal model to the Siena countryside."

For the Preliminary Investigations Judge, the picture is crystal clear, and the reference to the aggravating circumstance of mafia methods (Article 416 bis.1 of the Criminal Code) is fully justified. It is not necessary for the extortionist to show a formal "license" of affiliation, but rather that his group actions, the appeal to "soldiers" ready to avenge him, and the brutal methods of intimidation create a psychological subjugation typical of the Camorra. The Moccia clan exported its criminal model to the tranquil Siena countryside, crushing a local business in order to cannibalize its funds. A nightmare that ended only thanks to the intervention of the Florentine judiciary.

LIST OF THOSE UNDER INVESTIGATION UNDER PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES

In pre-trial detention in prison:

CASTIELLO Giuseppe (born 31.08.1979 in Afragola), resident in Afragola (NA)

PANICO Raffaele (born 07.06.1964 in San Felice a Cancello), resident in Scarperia and San Piero (FI)

DE FALCO Felice (born January 20, 1969 in Casalnuovo di Napoli), resident in Scarperia and San Piero (FI)

CASTIELLO Gennaro (born 02.09.1999 in Naples), resident in Afragola (NA)

DEL PRETE Giovanni (born 05.03.1987 in Acerra), resident in Afragola (NA)

ZANFARDINO Claudio (born November 11, 1980 in Acerra), resident in Afragola (NA)

ABATEGIOVANNI Domenico (born November 10, 1983 in Naples), resident in Prato (PO)

Under house arrest:

IORIO Michele (born January 26, 1996 in Naples), resident in Afragola (NA)

ROSMARINO Salvatore (born 05.01.1990), resident in Afragola (NA)

PECORARO Armando known as “Lelluccio” (born 26.03.1976 in Bassano del Grappa), resident in Castel Volturno (CE)

DI GRAZIA Biagio Francesco (born 06.07.2005 in Villariccia), resident in Afragola (NA)

(In the photo, the village of Monteriggioni and the arrested men of the Moccia clan; from left: Giuseppe Castiello, Gennaro Castiello, Armando "lello" Pecoraro, Claudio Zanfardino, Michele Iorio, Salvatore Rosmarino, and Giovanni Del Prete)