Naples: Jessica Vicchiariello is the unsuspected guardian of the Mazzarella clan.

Naples – She almost seemed like a clean face, a shadow far removed from the more violent underworld dynamics. Yet, behind the facade of thirty-three-year-old Jessica Vicchiariello, investigators at the Naples Police Headquarters glimpse the heavy shadow of the clans.

Following the massive seizure carried out yesterday by the "Falchi" (hawks) of the Flying Squad—led by chief Mario Grassia—the most solid investigative hypothesis is that the woman had become the local drug trafficking ring's reserve safe, a secure location for an arsenal of drugs and weapons linked to local cartels.

The raid on Via Barbato and the treasure in the warehouse

The investigation closed when officers raided the home on Via Stefano Barbato, in San Giovanni a Teduccio. Inside, there were already nineteen thousand euros in cash and the first bags of marijuana. But the real breakthrough came thanks to the nose of the drug-sniffing dogs of the Canine Unit: following the keys found in the apartment, the officers inspected a small storage area owned by the woman.

Inside was the clan's logistical base:

• Approximately 12 kilos of marijuana and 8 kilos of hashish
  100 grams of cocaine and methamphetamine
  A 9x21 caliber Glock pistol was found to be stolen.
  Approximately 200 cartridges of various calibers and five precision scales

According to investigators, the turnover and quantity of drugs ruled out Vicchiariello's independent management. The thirty-three-year-old, currently incarcerated in the Secondigliano women's prison on charges of drug possession for the purpose of trafficking and receiving a clandestine weapon, allegedly acted as a custodian for third parties: unpaid, for money, or under duress.

Forgetting the past? The Bloodthirsty Dynasty

A role, that of custodial officer, rooted in her family's criminal history. Jessica Vicchiariello is the daughter of Monica Veneruso, the woman who, on December 22, 2017, was at the side of Antonio Perna—a prominent figure close to the Mazzarellas—when he was blown up at the age of thirty-two while handling a bomb intended to hit an area controlled by rivals of the Reales.

A bond of blood and lead that today leads straight back to the cartels of organized crime, while investigators continue to dig to put a face and name to the real directors of this million-dollar trafficking ring.