Police detain 17 Naples Camorra suspects

Joint operation against Moccia clan of Neapolitan mafia

(ANSA) - Naples, July 21 - Police detained 17 suspects on Monday, held on charges of unlawful arms possession and extortion in organized crime, in a operation coordinated by the Naples anti-mafia division Monday.

The suspects, alleged members of the Moccia clan of the Camorra, the Napolitan mafia, are being held following an investigation into an internal division and feud that brought murders and an expansion of the clan from the Salicelle quarter of the Naples province town of Afragola into bordering towns. The detained suspects include a mother, Patrizia Bizzarro, and her three sons, Mariano, Aniello, and Carlo Barbato, who allegedly commanded the new division of the clan that had expanded into areas near Afragola, specifically Casoria, Caivano, Crispano and Cardito.

Also on Monday, just 28 kilometers away in Caserta, police arrested nine suspects in an operation to seize businesses and properties totalling a value of many tens of millions of euros, linked to the Belforte di Marcianise clan.