Police Raid Uncovers €3.2 Million Stashed in Naples Apartment, Ties to Angelino Clan

Italian anti-mafia police conducted a dawn raid on an apartment in Caivano, a suburb of Naples, and recovered €3.2 million in 50-euro notes wrapped in cellophane, 11 luxury Rolex watches, firearms and drug-related paraphernalia. The operation resulted in the arrest of 34 individuals accused of mafia-style association, drug trafficking, extortion and possession of drugs for dealing, according to a statement from the Naples Carabinieri. The cash and assets were removed in plastic mop buckets and loaded onto an armored vehicle.

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Authorities say the seized items belong to members of the Angelino clan, a criminal organization that has operated from prison cells and allegedly infiltrated Caivano to the point that the municipality was placed under judicial administration last year. The raid was the culmination of a months-long sting led by Neapolitan anti-mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, who traced cell-phone communications of incarcerated mobsters that were allegedly smuggled in by relatives. The operation occurs against the backdrop of the “Caivano Model,” an urban regeneration and crime-prevention scheme introduced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government in 2023.

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Prosecutor Gratteri emphasized the “entrepreneurial” structure of the ring, noting staggered shifts for drug dealing and extortion activities. He also joked that the €3.2 million haul could fund a year’s worth of wiretaps in Naples, a tool his department has seen reduced by recent budget cuts. Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano reiterated the purpose of the Caivano decree, describing it as a model of intervention that can be replicated in other degraded areas once conditions improve.

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Opposition parliamentarian Francesco Borrelli of the Greens and Left Alliance argued that the raid highlights a gap between the government’s public “clean-up” narrative and the reality uncovered by the investigation.

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• “The Caivano decree intends to identify a model of intervention that will apply immediately to Caivano and then, when conditions are right, to other degraded areas in the country,” — Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano

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• “It is a module that takes into consideration not only the scourge of juvenile crime, but also the offer of something positive and alternative to the street, to drug dealing,” — Alfredo Mantovano, cabinet secretary

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• “For months we have witnessed the prime minister and her ministers’ parades, claiming a ‘clean up’ that, in our opinion, was actually portrayed as a definitive victory over organized crime. The reality that emerged from the investigation is different.” — Francesco Borrelli

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The seized money will be transferred to Italy’s Justice Fund, which supports victims of organized crime.

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