Mafia’s TikTok generation infuriate their bosses by flaunting their flashy lifestyles of cars, clubs and champagne on social media
- Crescenzo Marino, the son of a Camorra boss, has more than 43,000 followers
- Marino’s TikTok account includes clips of him cruising around Paris in a Ferrari
- Camorra clans are also using the short-form platform to announce vendettas
The next generation of Italian mobsters are infuriating Mafia bosses by flaunting their flashy lifestyles on TikTok.
Gangsters in Naples are using the social media platform to post videos which show them driving expensive cars, partying at popular clubs and swigging bottles of champagne.
Crescenzo Marino, the son of a Camorra boss, has more than 43,000 followers and nearly 900,000 likes.
The Camorra is based in Campania, centred around Naples, and is the oldest and largest criminal organisation in Italy.
Marino’s TikTok account includes clips of him wearing elaborate designer clothing and watches, cruising around Paris in a Ferrari, playing with pitbulls and meeting well-known rappers.
Crescenzo Marino, the son of a Camorra boss, has more than 43,000 followers and nearly 900,000 likes
Camorra clans are also using the short-form video service to announce vendettas.
Following the murder of a man linked to the Carillo-Perfetto clan, a TikTok message warned the police: ‘We are giving you a week to arrest them or we will raise hell against them.’
Marcello Ravveduto, professor of modern history at the University of Salerno and an expert on mafia communication, told The Times: ‘For the first time these gangsters have found a direct way to speak up about their lives.
‘The Camorra has the youngest members of Italy’s mafias and they love TikTok because it’s so quick and has less rules than other platforms.
‘The Camorra has followed the Mexican Narcos, who are keen users of TikTok, while gypsy criminals in Rome are also using it.
‘What is needed now is better teamwork between the police and TikTok to keep a better eye on these people.’
Marino’s TikTok account includes clips of him wearing elaborate designer clothing and watches, cruising around Paris in a Ferrari, playing with pitbulls and meeting well-known rappers
Last year, one of Italy’s most feared mob bosses who ruled the Neapolitan Camorra from a prison cell for most of his life died.
Raffaele ‘the Professor’ Cutolo, 79, was found dead on a prison bed in Parma after spending 42 years of his life behind bars.
From jail he established the headquarters of the ‘New Camorra’ in the 1970s and orchestrated a bloody war against the Sicilian Cosa Nostra in the 1980s.
He commanded a legion of 10,000 men who smuggled cocaine and ran protection rackets, fathered a child by artificial insemination, and also inspired a 1986 movie starring Ben Gazzara, all while serving multiple life sentences.
The Camorra is the oldest criminal organisation in Italy
The Camorra is based in Campania, centred around Naples.
Like Cosa Nostra and the ‘Ndrangheta, it is a criminal organisation, or secret society that finances itself through drug trafficking and distribution, cigarette smuggling, people smuggling, kidnapping, blackmail, bribery, prostitution, toxic waste disposal, construction, counterfeiting, loan sharking, money laundering, illegal gambling, robbery, arms smuggling, extortion, protection, political corruption, and racketeering.
Its activities have led to high levels of murder in the areas in which it operates. It is the oldest and largest criminal organisation in Italy.
It is older than the other organisations, possibly having been founded as early as the 16th century.
The name originated as a blend between the word ‘Capo’ meaning boss, and ‘Morra’ which was a gambling game played on the streets of Naples.
When the game was banned, the ‘Camoristi’ earned money from ‘protecting’ the gamblers from passing policemen.
Unlike Cosa Nostra, individual Camorra clans act independently of each other, and are more prone to feuding among themselves.
This however makes the Camorra more resilient when top leaders are arrested or killed, with new clans and organisations germinating out of the stumps of old ones.
As one clan boss told a court: ‘Campania can get worse because you could cut into a Camorra group, but another ten could emerge from it.’
Source: understandingitaly.com
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