Salvatore Lo Russo (Naples, February 18, 1953) is a former member of the

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...

. Officially unemployed, Lo Russo was the head of the powerful

Lo Russo clan The Lo Russo clan was a Neapolitan Camorra clan operating on its territory within the city of Naples, concentrated specifically in the area of Miano, whose control extended throughout numerous neighborhoods in the north of the city for more than ...

, a Camorra clan, now defunct, that was based on its territory within the city of

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 ...

, concentrated specifically in its stronghold of

Miano Miano is a suburb of Naples, Italy, with a population of around 26,000. History Since the recent administrative reorganization of the area, Miano is part of the 7th community board. Geography It borders to the north with the Scampia district ( ...

. For over 30 years the Lo Russo's organization has extended its influence to numerous neighborhoods in the north of Naples, having branches in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Arrest

He was arrested on August 30, 2007, by the

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

at his home in Miano. Prior to that, he was arrested during a raid on May 16, 2006, but released a few days later due to lack of evidence. On the same day of his arrest, Raffaele Perfetto, one of his closest aides was also arrested at his home in Capodimonte. Lo Russo was later held in detention by the Carabinieri and charged with conspiracy to murder rival Camorristi during the

Scampia feud Scampia (, ) is a modern suburb in the far north of Naples, whose population is about 80,000. To its south are the suburbs of Piscinola-Marianella, Miano and Secondigliano. It was built during the second half of the twentieth century. History S ...

. Since 2010, Salvatore Lo Russo has decided to break omertà and become 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 ...

'', helping investigators in bringing down his own clan, which however remained active until 2016, when, after the arrest of the last leader of the organization, Vincenzo Lo Russo, the Lo Russo's era was considered ended.

Personal life

Salvatore's son, Antonio Lo Russo was also a top member of the clan in its heyday, according to a statement made by Lo Russo, he tried in every way to make his son stay out of the world of Camorra, and that encouraged his son to start a company or any business that was legal in another place, outside Naples, however, Antonio went against his father's wishes and ended up joining the family's lucrative business. Yet, according to Salvatore's declarations, he entrusted his son to a trusted man of the clan, in the sense of giving him the feeling to be operational without involving him much in the business. Eventually, Antonio Lo Russo was arrested in a bar in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, France and following his father's footsteps, became a collaborator of justice.

Fall of the Lo Russo clan

Nowadays, the once powerful Lo Russo clan is considered just a reminder of the past for the inhabitants of the zones where it used to exercise a great dominance over everyone's lives. After the fall of the clan, its former affiliates formed new independent groups, known in the media as the "Lo Russo heirs", to control the zones once dominated by the Lo Russo organization. In February 2020 the Italian police arrested 32 members who belonged to these new groups.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lo Russo, Salvatore 1953 births Living people People from the Metropolitan City of Naples Camorristi

Arrest

Personal life

Fall of the Lo Russo clan

See also

References