MELISSA BLOCK, Host:
In Italy, police are cracking down on the Mafia. On Tuesday, police issued arrest warrants for more than a hundred alleged Mafia members. That followed the brutal murder of six African immigrants near Naples by members of the local Mafia known as the Camorra. And the Italian government says it's sending 500 extra troops to help police in the Naples region. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports.
SYLVIA POGGIOLI: The town of Caserta, a half-hour drive north of Naples, is known to the outside world as the site of one of Europe's grandest 18th century palaces. But in recent years, the name of this town has been associated more closely with some of the most brutal clans of the Camorra.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHILDREN PLAYING)
POGGIOLI: Many of the young kids playing soccer in the courtyard of a bleak housing project already have the aggressive looks of teenage gang members. Nearby, police stand guard outside the office of the local newspaper in Martino. The Camorra has repeatedly threatened to kill journalist Rosania Cappachione(ph) who now has 24-hour protection. Cappachione says there are few legitimate job prospects here for young people because the Camorra is the town's major employer.
ROSANIA CAPPACHIONE: (Through Translator) The Camorra can do whatever it wants, even when police are all over the place here in Caserta. They can murder whoever they want and get away with it.
POGGIOLI: But Italian government officials are celebrating their latest arrests in Caserta as a great victory against organized crime. The arrests follow the brutal gangland slaying of six Africans who police believe tried to move into the local drug trade. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni called the massacre an act of terrorism and authorized sending 500 extra soldiers to the Naples region. However, Tano Grasso, the founder of Italy's first anti-protection racket association, is skeptical. He says there are already more than enough army troops and law enforcement officials in the Naples region. The problem, he says, is that the Camorra clans are well-entrenched and very well-organized.
TANO GRASSO: (Through Translator) It's organized crime that regulates the market, that establishes who works and who doesn't.
POGGIOLI: Tano Grasso and other anti-Mafia activists say that for decades organized crime has been able to flourish in southern Italy thanks to political inaction.
GRASSO: (Through Translator) In much of southern Italy, one quarter of the entire country, there are no investments from the outside. Organized crime's monopoly creates an invisible trade barrier.
POGGIOLI: Some economists estimate that Italy's various organized crime groups account for nearly seven percent of the country's GNP, but the figures are uncertain due to the vast undocumented gray economy. Even figures on unemployment are not reliable. And Tano Grasso says it's a mistake to link organized crime with poverty.
GRASSO: (Through Translator) The Mafia does not produce poverty. It produces wealth. But it prevents development. It prevents the economy from taking off.
POGGIOLI: Naples and its region have been in the headlines all year. For months, the city was buried under tons and tons of garbage. Then it was revealed that the Camorra had been dumping toxic waste in open-air dumps. The region's agriculture suffered a severe blow as Italians stopped buying Neapolitan food. And now the central government is sending troops to patrol the region. But many Neapolitans react to the army reinforcements with a sense of humiliation. Beppe Esposito(ph), an elementary school teacher, says it makes him feel as if he were living in a warzone. He also blames the government for ignoring the problem for too long. Now he believes it's too late.
BEPPE ESPOSITO: (Through Translator) There's no state here, and the Camorra fills the vacuum. Everyone has to pay the Camorra, even the homeless man on the street for permission to beg. The illegal immigrant who wants to steal, and also the Roma, they have to pay to live in squalid shanty towns.
POGGIOLI: Esposito echoes the view of many Neapolitans. The Camorra, many believe, can be defeated only once the government tackles the biggest challenge, breaking the link between organized crime and its political enablers. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
