FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Simone Bartiromo organized the robbery, the Nirta-Strangio clan put a 120 thousand euro bounty on his head
Casavatore, November 2023. Two Calabrian couriers were transporting 20 kg of pure cocaine. The load was destined for the Neapolitan Amato-Pagano clan, one of the most powerful in the area. But on their way, the unexpected happened: a robbery organized by people from the Vanella Grassi clan took their goods. First 10 kg, then 10 more. The drugs were found in bags, in luggage, as if someone had left them there to be picked up.
After this event, the balance between the Camorra and the 'Ndrangheta was shaken for three years. Until February 24, 2026, when the Carabinieri of Naples, in collaboration with the Antimafia Directorate, arrested 9 people and uncovered plans for revenge that risked turning the outskirts of Naples into a battlefield.
At the center of the story is Simone Bartiromo, the man from the Vanella Grassi clan who organized the robbery. According to the investigation, Bartiromo had an internal debt of about 500 thousand euros for an unpaid drug shipment. In the logic of criminal organizations, such debts are not forgiven. Either he pays them with money, or he pays with his life.
Bartiromo chose to repay the debt by taking what was not his. 20 kg of cocaine, worth around 600-700 thousand euros on the wholesale market, was enough to close the domestic accounts. But he opened another, much more dangerous account: with the 'Ndrangheta.
The investigation confirmed that the reaction of the Nirta-Strangio clan was immediate and ruthless. In mafia parlance, what happened in Casavatore is not simply called a robbery. It is called "sgarro" , a direct insult that demands blood.
A reward of 120 thousand euros was set for the head of the organizer. But the plans did not stop there. In the internal meetings of the Calabrian clan, the possibility of kidnapping Bartiromo's wife was also discussed, an act that in the mafia world is considered one of the most serious, but which showed the level of tension reached.
Why the Neapolitan clan risked conflict
Investigators identified several reasons that led Vanella Grassi to take such a dangerous action:
Internal debt was the main factor. In the mafia, the biggest threat often comes from within the group. Bartiromo risked being eliminated by his own people if he didn't pay back the money. Better a distant enemy than a nearby bullet, investigators reasoned.
Territory also played a role. Naples is historically Camorra territory. The 'Ndrangheta's presence there is tolerated as long as it respects local hierarchies. The robbery was a way to reestablish those hierarchies, to remind Calabrians that in that land someone else makes the laws.
The miscalculation was the third element. Bartiromo may have thought that the 'Ndrangheta would not answer for 20 kilos. That they would solve it with Amato-Pagano, with money, with an agreement. But he did not take into account that in the mafia, principle is more important than money. And the principle says: insult is washed away with blood.
The investigation that avoided war
For three years, investigators followed his every move. Wiretaps, testimonies from collaborators, analysis of secret meetings. Until July 2025, when Simone Bartiromo was arrested and sent to Tolmezzo prison.
But the operation did not end there. On February 24, 2026, the Carabinieri arrested 9 more people, including members of the Vanella Grassi clan and people in contact with the Nirta-Strangio clan.
According to the prosecution, there was a real risk of escalation of violence. The 120,000 euro reward was active. Plans for kidnapping were discussed. An open war between the Camorra and the 'Ndrangheta would have had serious consequences not only for the criminal world, but also for the innocent citizens of Naples.
This case shows that relationships between criminal organizations, even when they have been cooperating for years, remain fragile. An internal debt, a miscalculation, a direct insult are enough to disrupt the balances established over decades.
It also shows that the 'Ndrangheta, the most powerful organization in cocaine trafficking, does not tolerate interference in its supply chain. And that the Camorra, although less centralized, continues to fight to maintain control of its territory.
But it shows above all that when the state intervenes in time, it can avoid what in mafia language is called "guerra di mafia"; war between mafias; which is always paid for in blood. /Pamphlet
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