Luigi Giuliano (; born November 3, 1949) is a former Italian
Camorrista who was the boss of the powerful
Giuliano clan
The Giuliano clan was a powerful Neapolitan Camorra clan that had its base in the area of Forcella, in Naples. Its sphere of influence extended to all the centre of the city of Naples for over four decades.
History
The clan was founded by Pio Vi ...
based in the district of Forcella,
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
. He had multiple nicknames including ''"'o rre"'' (the king) and ''"Lovigino"'', which is an amalgamation of Luigi and love. In 2002, he decided to collaborate with Italian law enforcement and became a ''
pentito
''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...
'', 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 Giuliano
Erminia Giuliano (; born December 31, 1955) is a former member of the Giuliano clan of the Camorra, based in the district of Forcella, Naples. Her nickname was ''Celeste'' ("Sky-blue") on account of her bright, blue eyes., The Independent, Decemb ...
, who was called Celeste, Patrizia, Silvana and Anna.
[Forcella, morto il re del contrabbando]
, Il Giornale di Napoli, September 29, 2009 Nunzio dissociated himself from the Camorra and, by extension, his own family in the 1980s, 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 (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...
, before he was killed on March 21, 2005.
[Ucciso il fratello del boss Giuliano]
Corriere della Sera, March 22, 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 Zaza
Michele Zaza (; Procida, April 10, 1945 – Rome, July 18, 1994) was a member of the Camorra criminal organisation who was also initiated in the Sicilian Mafia. He headed the Zaza clan (later Mazzarella clan) in Naples. Zaza was known as ''’O Pa ...
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
The Nuova Camorra Organizzata (Italian: New Organized Camorra) 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 (; 4 November 1941 – 17 February 2021) was an Italian crime boss, leader of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata (NCO), an organisation he built to renew the Camorra. Cutolo had a variety of nicknames including o Vangelo'' ("the gos ...
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 (; ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples in Italy. It is the site of the Portici Royal Palace.
Geography
Portici lies at the foot of Mount Vesuvius on the Bay of Naples, about southeast of Naples itself. There i ...
. Following this, the 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
The Vollaro clan was founded in the mid-seve ...
leader named Luigi Vollaro
Luigi Vollaro (December 18, 1932 in San Sebastiano, province of Naples – December 3, 2015 in Milan)[Nuova Famiglia
The Nuova Famiglia (Italian: "New Family") was an Italian Camorra confederation created in the 1970s and headed by the most powerful Camorra bosses of the time, Carmine Alfieri, the Nuvoletta brothers, Michele Zaza, Luigi Giuliano and Antonio Ba ...]
(NF) to oppose Cutolo’s predominant NCO, consisting of Giuliano, Zaza, the Nuvolettas and Antonio Bardellino
Antonio Bardellino (; May 4, 1945 – May 26, 1988) 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. He was one of the last of the ...
from Casal Di Principe
Casal di Principe (Campanian: or simply ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region of Campania, located about northwest of Naples and about southwest of Caserta. It has a population of approximately 21,000 ...
(the Casalesi clan
The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from Casal di Principe and San Cipriano d'Aversa in the province of Caserta between Naples and Latium. Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederatio ...
). 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
Quartieri Spagnoli (''Spanish Neighborhoods'') is a part of the city of Naples in Italy. The Neapolitan language is stronger here than anywhere else. The area, encompassing c. 800,000 square metres, consists of a grid of around eighteen streets b ...
(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
The Secondigliano Alliance ( Italian: Alleanza di Secondigliano) is a strategic alliance of Camorra clans in Naples, Italy and its hinterland which controls drug trafficking and the extortion racket in many areas of Naples since the 1990s. The Alli ...
, a consortium of Camorra clans formed in Naples towards the end of the 1980s.[
]
Arrest
Luigi Giuliano held the reins
Reins are items of horse tack, used to direct a horse or other animal used for riding. They are long straps that can be made of leather, nylon, metal, or other materials, and attach to a bridle via either its bit or its noseband.
Use for ...
of his clan undisturbed for nearly thirty years. However, he was arrested in early 2000 and was succeeded by his sister, Erminia
''Jerusalem Delivered'', also known as ''The Liberation of Jerusalem'' ( it, La Gerusalemme liberata ; ), is an epic poem by the Italian literature, Italian poet Torquato Tasso, first published in 1581, that tells a largely mythified version of ...
, who was ranked as one of Italy's 30 most dangerous criminals, and eventually arrested after being a fugitive for over 10 months.['Mob queen' found in cupboard]
BBC News, December 24, 2000 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.
New York Times, January 11, 2001
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 Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
's banker Roberto Calvi
Roberto Calvi (13 April 1920 – 17 June 1982) was an Italian banker, dubbed "God's Banker" () by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. He was a native of Milan and was chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in on ...
, who was found hanging from scaffolding beneath 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 in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple Chu ...
in the financial district of London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
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.[Camorra, ucciso il figlio del boss pentito]
La Repubblica, December 8, 2006 Giovanni had previously refused to join the Witness Protection program
Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...
.
Notes
References
*Behan, Tom (1996). ''The Camorra'', London: Routledge,
*Luigi Di Fiore, ''Potere camorrista'', Alfredo Guida Editore, Napoli, 1993;
*''Cronache di Napoli''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giuliano, Luigi
1949 births
Living people
Camorristi
Giuliano clan
Pentiti
People from the Province of Naples