Luigi Giuliano
Encyclopedia
Luigi Giuliano is a former Italian Camorrista
who was the boss of the powerful Giuliano clan, based in the district of Forcella, Naples
. He had multiple nicknames including "'o rre" and "Lovigno", which is an amalgamation of Luigi and love. In 2002, he decided to collaborate with Italian law enforcement and became a pentito
, a co-operating witness against organised crime.
, who was called Celeste, Patrizia, Silvana and Anna. Nunzio dissociated himself from the Camorra and, by extension, his own family in the eighties, following the drug-related death of his son. In later years, he fought to keep young people away from the Camorra, and was about to publish a book containing numerous interviews and anti-Camorra appeals which were directed towards the people of Campania
, before he was killed on March 21, 2005.
At the age of 14, Giuliano stole a car belonging to an American expatriate together with Giuseppe Misso, the future boss of the Misso clan. His father found a briefcase containing hundreds of US dollars in the car. Pio Vittorio Giuliano was a powerful member of the Giuliano clan, which had traditionally controlled the Forcella, or "Casbah" area in the centre of Naples. Luigi Giuliano replaced his father as head of the clan in the mid 1970s.
that it launched an attack against his nephew Pasquale in December 1979. The Giuliano clan had been in good terms with the Nuova Camorra Organizzata
, headed by Raffaele Cutolo
until the first half of 1979, but the two clans then broke out into conflict. Cutolo demanded to receive a cut from the Giulianos' illegal gambling centres and lottery system in his power base of Portici
. Following this, the Vollaro clan
leader named Luigi Vollaro
raised the idea of an anti-Cutolo alliance with Giuliano. A provisional death squad was set up, which contributed to the dozens of gangland deaths that year.
The breaking point was reached when the NCO tried to move into the Giulianos' stronghold of Forcella, Piazza Mercato and Via Duomo, in the centre of Naples. A few days before Christmas
, 1980, two NCO members presented themselves at an unloading of contraband cigarettes at Santa Lucia and demanded immediate payment of $400,000 to their organization, as well as insisting on future payment of $25 for every crate of cigarettes brought ashore. They then proceeded to shoot and injure one of the Giuliano gang members unloading the cigarettes. On Christmas Eve, Luigi Giuliano himself was wounded in an attack.
(NF) to oppose Cutolo’s predominant NCO, consisting of Giuliano, Zaza, the Nuvolettas and Antonio Bardellino
from Casal Di Principe
(the Casalesi clan
). After the defeat of Cutolo, the leaders of the NF achieved absolute dominance over all criminal rackets in the city of Naples. Luigi Giuliano relinquished control of the Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Quarters) to the Di Biase brothers, Luigi and Mario who ruled the area under the approval of Giuliano. He later became a founding member of the Secondigliano Alliance
, a consortium of Camorra clans formed in Naples towards the end of the 1980s.
, who was ranked as one of Italy's 30 most dangerous criminals, and eventually arrested after being a fugitive for over 10 months. She became the boss because the only direct male heir to the family business still unimprisoned, Giuliano's nephew Pio Vittorio Giuliano, was deemed inept.
In January 2001, his wife Carmela Marzano was arrested and charged with threatening the widow of Giuseppe Ginosa, a rival Camorrista. She wanted to testify against Giuliano's son-in-law and two associates accused of murdering her husband in 1999. Their daughter, Marianna, was also arrested.
's banker Roberto Calvi
, who was found hanging from scaffolding beneath Blackfriars Bridge
in the financial district of London
in 1982.
Luigi Giuliano's collaboration with the Italian authorities was preceded by that of his two brothers, Guglielmo and Raffaele. In retaliation for the defection of the three Giuliano brothers, Nunzio Giuliano was killed by the Camorra during an ambush at the Via Tasso in Naples in 2005, followed by Luigi Giuliano's son Giovanni on December 7, 2006. Giovanni had previously refused to join the Witness Protection program
.
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
who was the boss of the powerful Giuliano clan, based in the district of Forcella, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
. He had multiple nicknames including "'o rre" and "Lovigno", which is an amalgamation of Luigi and love. In 2002, he decided to collaborate with Italian law enforcement and became a pentito
Pentito
Pentito designates people in Italy who, formerly part of criminal or terrorist organizations, following their arrests decide to "repent" and collaborate with the judicial system to help investigations...
, a co-operating witness against organised crime.
Early life
Giuliano was born into the family of Pio Vittorio Giuliano, a well-known smuggler. Pio Vittorio Giuliano had 11 children. Six boys, Luigi "o re or the king", Guglielmo "o stuorto or the crooked one", Nunzio Giuliano, Carmine "o lione or the lion" (1952-2004), Salvatore "o montone or the ram", Raffaele "o zui", Neapolitan slang for being the youngest son. The other four girls, Erminia GiulianoErminia Giuliano
Erminia Giuliano , was a member of the Giuliano clan of the Camorra, based in the district of Forcella, Naples. Her nickname was "Celeste" – heavenly – on account of her bright, blue eyes.-Taking over the Giuliano clan:...
, who was called Celeste, Patrizia, Silvana and Anna. Nunzio dissociated himself from the Camorra and, by extension, his own family in the eighties, following the drug-related death of his son. In later years, he fought to keep young people away from the Camorra, and was about to publish a book containing numerous interviews and anti-Camorra appeals which were directed towards the people of Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, before he was killed on March 21, 2005.
At the age of 14, Giuliano stole a car belonging to an American expatriate together with Giuseppe Misso, the future boss of the Misso clan. His father found a briefcase containing hundreds of US dollars in the car. Pio Vittorio Giuliano was a powerful member of the Giuliano clan, which had traditionally controlled the Forcella, or "Casbah" area in the centre of Naples. Luigi Giuliano replaced his father as head of the clan in the mid 1970s.
War with the NCO
The Giuliano clan was on such bad terms with rival mobster Michele ZazaMichele Zaza
Michele Zaza was a member of the Neapolitan Camorra who was also initiated in the Sicilian Mafia. He was known as "’O Pazzo" due to his outspoken and improbable public pronouncements...
that it launched an attack against his nephew Pasquale in December 1979. The Giuliano clan had been in good terms with the Nuova Camorra Organizzata
Nuova Camorra Organizzata
The Nuova Camorra Organizzata was an Italian Camorra criminal organization founded in the late 1970s by a Neapolitan Camorrista, Raffaele Cutolo, in the region of Campania. It was also known by the initials NCO...
, headed by Raffaele Cutolo
Raffaele Cutolo
Raffaele Cutolo is an Italian crime boss and the charismatic leader of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata , an organisation he built to renew the Camorra. Cutolo has a variety of nicknames including "'o Vangelo" , "'o Principe" , "'o Professore" and "'o Monaco"...
until the first half of 1979, but the two clans then broke out into conflict. Cutolo demanded to receive a cut from the Giulianos' illegal gambling centres and lottery system in his power base of Portici
Portici
Portici is a town and comune of the Province of Naples in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is the site of the Portici Royal Palace.-Geography:...
. Following this, the Vollaro clan
Vollaro clan
The Vollaro clan is a Neapolitan Camorra clan operating in the area east of Naples, more specifically in the town of Portici and San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, a small village in the Vesuvius area.-History:...
leader named Luigi Vollaro
Luigi Vollaro
Luigi Vollaro is a member of the Camorra and boss of his name-sake, the Vollaro clan from Portici and San Sebastiano a Vesuvio, a small village in the Vesuvius area, east of Naples....
raised the idea of an anti-Cutolo alliance with Giuliano. A provisional death squad was set up, which contributed to the dozens of gangland deaths that year.
The breaking point was reached when the NCO tried to move into the Giulianos' stronghold of Forcella, Piazza Mercato and Via Duomo, in the centre of Naples. A few days before Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, 1980, two NCO members presented themselves at an unloading of contraband cigarettes at Santa Lucia and demanded immediate payment of $400,000 to their organization, as well as insisting on future payment of $25 for every crate of cigarettes brought ashore. They then proceeded to shoot and injure one of the Giuliano gang members unloading the cigarettes. On Christmas Eve, Luigi Giuliano himself was wounded in an attack.
Nuova Famiglia
The clash, which had occurred in a period of growing tension, led to the formation of the Nuova FamigliaNuova Famiglia
The Nuova Famiglia was an Italian Camorra criminal organization created in the 1980s to face Raffaele Cutolo's Nuova Camorra Organizzata....
(NF) to oppose Cutolo’s predominant NCO, consisting of Giuliano, Zaza, the Nuvolettas and Antonio Bardellino
Antonio Bardellino
Antonio Bardellino was a powerful Neapolitan Camorrista and boss of the Casalesi clan, having a prominent role in the organized crime in the province of Caserta during the 1980s...
from Casal Di Principe
Casal di Principe
Casal di Principe is a comune in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about 25 km northwest of Naples and about 20 km southwest of Caserta....
(the Casalesi clan
Casalesi clan
The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Salerno.Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederation of clans in the Caserta area...
). After the defeat of Cutolo, the leaders of the NF achieved absolute dominance over all criminal rackets in the city of Naples. Luigi Giuliano relinquished control of the Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Quarters) to the Di Biase brothers, Luigi and Mario who ruled the area under the approval of Giuliano. He later became a founding member of the Secondigliano Alliance
Secondigliano Alliance
The Secondigliano Alliance is a strategic alliance of Camorra clans in Naples and its hinterland which controls drug trafficking and the extortion racket in many areas of Naples in the 1990s....
, a consortium of Camorra clans formed in Naples towards the end of the 1980s.
Arrest
Luigi Giuliano held the reins of his clan undisturbed for nearly thirty years. However, he was arrested in early 2000 and was succeeded by his sister, ErminiaErminia Giuliano
Erminia Giuliano , was a member of the Giuliano clan of the Camorra, based in the district of Forcella, Naples. Her nickname was "Celeste" – heavenly – on account of her bright, blue eyes.-Taking over the Giuliano clan:...
, who was ranked as one of Italy's 30 most dangerous criminals, and eventually arrested after being a fugitive for over 10 months. She became the boss because the only direct male heir to the family business still unimprisoned, Giuliano's nephew Pio Vittorio Giuliano, was deemed inept.
In January 2001, his wife Carmela Marzano was arrested and charged with threatening the widow of Giuseppe Ginosa, a rival Camorrista. She wanted to testify against Giuliano's son-in-law and two associates accused of murdering her husband in 1999. Their daughter, Marianna, was also arrested.
Pentito
In September 2002, Giuliano decided to collaborate with the Italian authorities and became a government witness. He cited his willingness to change his life as a reason for his collaboration with the authorities. The former boss revealed many secrets and revealed details which opened several branches of investigation, some of which are still ongoing. The information divulged featured corrupt police officers, corrupt judges, rigged auction houses, and complacent courts. He even made several statements against his former ally, Giuseppe Misso, and revealed specific details regarding the murder of the VaticanHoly See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
's banker Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi was an Italian banker dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals...
, who was found hanging from scaffolding beneath Blackfriars Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is near the Inns of Court and Temple Church, along with Blackfriars station...
in the financial district of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1982.
Luigi Giuliano's collaboration with the Italian authorities was preceded by that of his two brothers, Guglielmo and Raffaele. In retaliation for the defection of the three Giuliano brothers, Nunzio Giuliano was killed by the Camorra during an ambush at the Via Tasso in Naples in 2005, followed by Luigi Giuliano's son Giovanni on December 7, 2006. Giovanni had previously refused to join the Witness Protection program
Witness protection
Witness protection is protection of a threatened witness or any person involved in the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during and after a trial, usually by police...
.