Camorra informant Bervicato: "We had a fight at Parco Verde during Meloni's visit."

There's a before and after in the Camorra geography of Caivano, and that invisible boundary is drawn by the statements of a man who until yesterday sat at the top of the agenda. The statements of Raffaele Bervicato, a former loyalist of the Angelino clan and now a collaborator with justice under a definitive program, form the backbone of the precautionary order signed by investigating judge Maria Cristina Sangiovanni. An investigation that the other day resulted in 11 arrests, overwhelming the criminal stronghold on Via Uganda, led by Domenico Di Micco, aka "Bimbetto."

These aren't just rearguard actions. The evidence—enriched by evidence from video surveillance cameras, wiretaps, and the admissions of drug buyers themselves—depicts a violent transition, a violent changing of the guard for control of local drug dealing and extortion hubs.

The baptism of fire and the rise of Giovanni Barra

It all begins in the summer of 2023. Until then, the balance of power holds. But the arrest of boss Antonio Angelino creates a power vacuum that unleashes the ambitions of middle management. According to Bervicato's account, it is in this scenario that Giovanni Barra's change of allegiance takes place:

Initially, before Antonio Angelino's arrest, he was part of Roberto Maugeri's group. Then, starting in August 2023, he joined forces with Ciro Ciccarelli, Salvatore's son, following discussions with Pinuccio, Roberto Maugeri, and Gianfranco Bervicato. He initially dealt in drugs. Then, during Angelino's time on the run, he also took over the extortion operations in Caivano, with Angelino's consent.

The goal of the newly formed Barra-Ciccarelli alliance is monumental and ruthless: to impose a single supply channel for all of Caivano. Anyone who wants to sell drugs must buy from them.

"In August, he had a discussion with the Maugeri group, and there were some discussions between Giovanni Barra's group, along with Ciccarelli Ciro, Francesco Pezzella, and Ciro 'o bit, against the Maugeri group, because they wanted the Caivano squares to get supplies from them and no longer from the Maugeri group, as I've already reported. Until October, this was the situation I'm aware of."

Rain of lead as the State marches

The conflict between the factions explodes in a series of armed raids, known as "stese," which terrorize the population. Commandos ride motorcycles, shooting wildly at their rivals' windows. The informer precisely reconstructs the targets and dates of that terror campaign.

Barra, along with other individuals such as Francesco Pezzella, Ciro 'o bit, and Alberto Russo, known as Demonio, rode motorcycles and cars to shoot Francesco Falco, known as 'o lione, on Via Cairoli. This happened in August 2023, and I know about it because my cousin Gianfranco told me everything that was happening. I was extorting money on behalf of the Maugeri group because Angelino had been arrested.

No fear, not even for the institutions. There's a passage in the collaborator's transcripts that establishes a chilling temporal coincidence: the Camorra fired on Parco Verde precisely during the days when Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was visiting the area to promise to clean up the land. Bervicato recognized his cousin Gianfranco in a photograph and told the magistrates:

He's also part of the Maugeri group and was involved in drugs and some extortion. He also took part in a few raids. In particular, the one in Parco Verde during Meloni's visit, between August and September 2023. The raid was carried out by Gianfranco and Roberto, along with two others I don't remember, against Giovanni Barra, Alberto Russo, Ciro 'o bit, and Francesco Pezzella, who were leaning against the house I believe belonged to Alberto Russo 'o demonio, and who I know to be in Parco Verde.

The Instagram challenge with weapons on the table

The Caivano war isn't just being fought on the streets, but is also being deployed on social media, used as a veritable tool for criminal branding and psychological intimidation. Francesco Pezzella, once a cocaine dealer operating a phone-in operation, decides to switch sides and attempts to recruit Bervicato using brutal methods. The informer himself recounts the episode of the digital confrontation:

"He had weapons. In fact, Francesco Pezzella once made a video call to me on Instagram, and to challenge me and convince me to extort for him, Barra, Russo, and the Ciccarelli gang, he showed me in the background several weapons sitting on the table in the house. Alberto Russo was also there at the time, and the house was in the park, and they were leaning there, but I don't know whose house it was."

Factional changes are paid for with lead. Before Pezzella made the deal with Barra, his old home suffered the Maugeri's revenge:

"I know this guy, he's Francesco Pezzella... Before he switched sides and joined Barra and the Ciccarellis, he had a cocaine operation in Caivano. There was a shooting outside his house, carried out by Maugeri's gang, Gianfranco and Roberto for sure. This happened, if I'm not mistaken, in August 2023."

The crosshairs on Via Uganda and the mistake regarding the name "Bimbetto"

The Barra-Ciccarelli group's terror strategy spares none of the local drug lords. The next target becomes the lucrative drug dealing hub on Via Uganda, run by Domenico Di Micco. In the initial reports dated April 4, 2024, Bervicato makes a minor identity mistake, confusing the hub's boss with his cousin, a mistake he corrects months later:

"I later learned that Pezzella's group shot at the home of Domenico Buonomo, known as Bimbetto, who runs a cocaine operation in Caivano near the cemetery. This also happened between August and September 2023, because they wanted the operations to get their drugs from them."

On June 12, 2024, before the magistrates of the District Anti-Mafia Directorate, the repentant filed his final statement, strengthening the prosecution's case against the current main suspect:

"I want to clarify that when I referred, in a previous interrogation, to the individual I identified as Domenico Buonomo, known as Bimbetto, I actually specified that he was Domenico Di Micco, known as Bimbetto. I had confused him with the name of his cousin, Buonomo."

This clarification, combined with CCTV footage and feedback from customers intercepted while purchasing the doses, allowed the investigating judge to close the loop on the Via Uganda group. The mafia peace in Caivano had collapsed due to a failed monopoly, leaving behind a trail of shell casings and pre-trial detention orders.

(pictured are Raffaele Bervicato, Giovanni Barra, and Domenico Di Micco)