Nuvoletta clan
Encyclopedia
The Nuvoletta clan is a Neapolitan Camorra
clan operating from the town of Marano di Napoli
, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Naples
, southern Italy
.
and Angelo Nuvoletta initially joined the clan of Antonio Maisto who was dealing in contraband cigarettes. After their early exploits with the Maisto clan, they diversified and became significant landowners using state funds designed to set up small agricultural landholdings. The made their fortune swindling the Italian government and the European Economic Community
(EEC) and intimidating insurance officials, as well as local farmers who took loans from finance companies managed by the Nuvolettas. During the 1980s the Nuvoletta clan transformed into an international holding investing in agriculture, cleaning contracts, construction, drugs, fraud, stud farming and hotels. The legal assets of the clan amounted to US$ 280 million around 1990.
The Nuvoletta clan first began to appear in the news at the same time the Nuova Famiglia
(NF) was formed. The NF was a federation of Camorra clans which apart from the Nuovoletta clan, consisted of Michele Zaza
(a Camorra boss with strong ties with Cosa Nostra), the Gionta clan (from Torre Annunziata
), Antonio Bardellino
from San Cipriano d'Aversa
and Casal di Principe
, the Alfieri clan
led by Carmine Alfieri
, the Galasso clan of Poggiomarino
(led by Pasquale Galasso
), the Fabbrocino clan of the Vesuvius area (led by Mario Fabbrocino
), the Giuliano clan from Naples' quarter Forcella (led by Luigi Giuliano
) and the Vollaro clan
from Portici
(led by Luigi Vollaro
). It was formed to contrast the growing power of Raffaele Cutolo's Nuova Camorra Organizzata
(NCO).
was the heir to a family of landowners. His grandfather and then mother had accumulated large areas of land, with its fruit crops exported to other areas. The Nuvoletta's had many significant and powerful contacts within the Sicilian Mafia, as a result of their relationship with the Sciorio family. Lorenzo's many telephone calls with Luciano Leggio
, boss of the Corleonesi
were frequently intercepted by the Carabinieri
. The Mafia "supergrasses" Tommaso Buscetta
, Antonio Calderone and Salvatore Contorno
, confirmed that the Nuvoletta's had very close links with the Sicilian Mafia.
While testifiying in court, the Sicilian Mafia boss Tommaso Buscetta who became a pentito
(collaborator with Italian Justice) spoke of Lorenzo Nuvoletta:
Likewise, the Catania Mafia boss, Antonino Calderone, recalled:
After his collaboration with Italian Justice in 1992, Galasso clan boss Pasquale Galasso
revealed details of further meetings held at Nuvoletta's villas in 1981. He mentioned that these meetings frequently involved representatives of all the major Camorra clans, with usually a hundred people present, many of them fugitives, as well as dozens of cars. He explained:
.
Compared to the other Camorra clan in the 1980s and early 1990s, the Nuvoletta clan was almost unique in that they never had any high-level pentito. According to judge Giuseppe Borrelli, they were able to insulate themselves by adopting the cellular structure dominant within the Sicilian Mafia. As he explained:
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:...
clan operating from the town of Marano di Napoli
Marano di Napoli
Marano di Napoli is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 9 km northwest of Naples.-Main sights:...
, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of 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...
, southern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Background
In the 1960s, Ciro, LorenzoLorenzo Nuvoletta
Lorenzo Nuvoletta was the head of the Nuvoletta clan, a Neapolitan Camorra organisation operating from the town of Marano di Napoli, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Naples.-The Nuvoletta clan:...
and Angelo Nuvoletta initially joined the clan of Antonio Maisto who was dealing in contraband cigarettes. After their early exploits with the Maisto clan, they diversified and became significant landowners using state funds designed to set up small agricultural landholdings. The made their fortune swindling the Italian government and the European Economic Community
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
(EEC) and intimidating insurance officials, as well as local farmers who took loans from finance companies managed by the Nuvolettas. During the 1980s the Nuvoletta clan transformed into an international holding investing in agriculture, cleaning contracts, construction, drugs, fraud, stud farming and hotels. The legal assets of the clan amounted to US$ 280 million around 1990.
The Nuvoletta clan first began to appear in the news at the same time the Nuova Famiglia
Nuova Famiglia
The Nuova Famiglia was an Italian Camorra criminal organization created in the 1980s to face Raffaele Cutolo's Nuova Camorra Organizzata....
(NF) was formed. The NF was a federation of Camorra clans which apart from the Nuovoletta clan, consisted of Michele Zaza
Michele 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...
(a Camorra boss with strong ties with Cosa Nostra), the Gionta clan (from Torre Annunziata
Torre Annunziata
Torre Annunziata is a city and comune in the province of Naples, region of Campania in Italy. It is located at the Gulf of Naples at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius.-History:...
), 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 San Cipriano d'Aversa
San Cipriano d'Aversa
San Cipriano d'Aversa is a comune in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about 20 km northwest of Naples and about 20 km southwest of Caserta.-References:...
and 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 Alfieri clan
Alfieri clan
The Alfieri clan was a Neapolitan Camorra clan operating on the north-east of Naples, with its sphere of influence in the municipalities of Saviano and Nola.-History:...
led by Carmine Alfieri
Carmine Alfieri
Carmine Alfieri is an Italian Camorra boss, who rose from Piazzolla di Nola to become one of the most powerful members of Neapolitan Camorra in the 1980s. As boss of the Alfieri clan, he was the undisputed head of the Camorra from 1984 until his arrest in 1992...
, the Galasso clan of Poggiomarino
Poggiomarino
Poggiomarino is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 25 km east of Naples.-History:...
(led by Pasquale Galasso
Pasquale Galasso
Pasquale Galasso is a former boss of the Galasso clan, a clan of the Camorra, the Neapolitan crime organization. Since August 1992, he has been a pentito , collaborating with the Italian justice. He revealed many intricate secrets about the Camorra...
), the Fabbrocino clan of the Vesuvius area (led by Mario Fabbrocino
Mario Fabbrocino
Mario Fabbrocino , is a powerful Italian crime boss of the Camorra – the Neapolitan mafia. He was the leader of the Fabbrocino clan, based in the Vesuvius area, with its sphere of influence around Nola, Ottaviano, San Giuseppe Vesuviano, San Gennaro Vesuviano...
), the Giuliano clan from Naples' quarter Forcella (led by Luigi Giuliano
Luigi Giuliano
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...
) and 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:...
from 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:...
(led by 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....
). It was formed to contrast the growing power of Raffaele Cutolo's 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...
(NCO).
Links with Cosa Nostra
The clan's regent Lorenzo NuvolettaLorenzo Nuvoletta
Lorenzo Nuvoletta was the head of the Nuvoletta clan, a Neapolitan Camorra organisation operating from the town of Marano di Napoli, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Naples.-The Nuvoletta clan:...
was the heir to a family of landowners. His grandfather and then mother had accumulated large areas of land, with its fruit crops exported to other areas. The Nuvoletta's had many significant and powerful contacts within the Sicilian Mafia, as a result of their relationship with the Sciorio family. Lorenzo's many telephone calls with Luciano Leggio
Luciano Leggio
Luciano Leggio was an Italian criminal and leading figure of the Sicilian Mafia. He was the head of the Corleonesi, the Mafia faction that originated in the town of Corleone...
, boss of the Corleonesi
Corleonesi
The Corleonesi is the name given to a faction within the Sicilian Mafia that dominated Cosa Nostra in the 1980s and the 1990s. It was called the Corleonesi because its most important leaders came from the town of Corleone, first Luciano Leggio and later Totò Riina, Bernardo Provenzano and Leoluca...
were frequently intercepted by the Carabinieri
Carabinieri
The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...
. The Mafia "supergrasses" Tommaso Buscetta
Tommaso Buscetta
Tommaso Buscetta was a Sicilian mafioso. Although he was not the first pentito in the Italian witness protection program, he is widely recognized as the first important one breaking omertà...
, Antonio Calderone and Salvatore Contorno
Salvatore Contorno
Salvatore "Totuccio" Contorno is a former member of the Sicilian Mafia who turned into a state witness against Cosa Nostra in October 1984, following the example of Tommaso Buscetta. He gave detailed accounts of the inner-workings of the Sicilian Mafia...
, confirmed that the Nuvoletta's had very close links with the Sicilian Mafia.
While testifiying in court, the Sicilian Mafia boss Tommaso Buscetta who 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...
(collaborator with Italian Justice) spoke of Lorenzo Nuvoletta:
Likewise, the Catania Mafia boss, Antonino Calderone, recalled:
After his collaboration with Italian Justice in 1992, Galasso clan boss Pasquale Galasso
Pasquale Galasso
Pasquale Galasso is a former boss of the Galasso clan, a clan of the Camorra, the Neapolitan crime organization. Since August 1992, he has been a pentito , collaborating with the Italian justice. He revealed many intricate secrets about the Camorra...
revealed details of further meetings held at Nuvoletta's villas in 1981. He mentioned that these meetings frequently involved representatives of all the major Camorra clans, with usually a hundred people present, many of them fugitives, as well as dozens of cars. He explained:
Structure
The clan was ruled by the three Nuvoletta brothers: Lorenzo, Ciro and Angelo. Lorenzo died in 1994 after a serious illness; Ciro, the most bloodthirsty of the group was killed in an ambush between the Nuvoletta's and the Bardellino-Gionta-Alfieri-Galasso-Verde. Angelo was the smartest of the brothers and literally the "brains" of the group, who was entrusted with the economic management of the group. Angelo was eventually arrested in May 2001, after having been on the list of thirty most dangerous fugitives in Italy since 1995. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of journalist, Giancarlo SianiGiancarlo Siani
Giancarlo Siani was an Italian crime reporter from Naples, who was killed by the Camorra, the Neapolitan crime organization....
.
Compared to the other Camorra clan in the 1980s and early 1990s, the Nuvoletta clan was almost unique in that they never had any high-level pentito. According to judge Giuseppe Borrelli, they were able to insulate themselves by adopting the cellular structure dominant within the Sicilian Mafia. As he explained: