The Scissionisti di Secondigliano or Amato-Pagano clan is a Camorra clan from the

Secondigliano Secondigliano () is an old Italian municipality which became a modern suburb in the north of Naples. Geography Secondigliano lies between San Pietro a Patierno and Scampìa. History The name may derive from a contraction of "secondo" (second) an ...

district 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 ...

, headed by

Raffaele Amato Raffaele Amato (born November 11, 1965 in Naples) is an Italian Camorra boss and head of the Amato-pagano clan, a Camorra clan from Naples. He is known by multiple nicknames in the Neapolitan criminal underworld, including ''"Lo Spagnolo"'' (Th ...

and Cesare Pagano. They are also known as ''"Spagnoli"'' (Spaniards) because of their strong presence in Spain, particularly in Costa del Sol and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. After the end of the war against the

Di Lauro clan The Di Lauro clan () is an Italian crime clan, part of the Camorra in Naples. The clan operates in the neighbourhoods of Secondigliano, Scampìa, Miano, Marianella, Piscinola, and in the adjacent municipalities of Casavatore, Melito, Arzano, ...

, the group fell apart, starting a violent internal war. In the present day the Scissionisti di Secondigliano are known as the Amato-Pagano clan. Currently, the organization is one of the most important in the entire Camorra in terms of international drug trafficking.

History

split from the

and tried to assert the Scissionisti's control over drugs and prostitution rackets in the areas, that included

and

Scampia 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 ...

. Amato aligned himself with several ''Sistema'' leaders, as the Camorra is known in Naples, which included Gennaro Marino and Arcangelo Abete. The war, known as 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 ...

(Italian "faida di Scampìa"), resulted in over 100 murders in 2004 and 2005. The feud caused widespread public revulsion against the Camorra and led to a major crackdown by the authorities. Secondigliano was historically controlled by the Di Lauro clan whereas Scampia,

Casavatore Casavatore is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples of 18 683 citizens in the Italian region Campania, located about 8 km north of Naples. It is the first Italian comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrati ...

Chiaiano Chiaiano is a north-western quarter of Naples, with a population of about 23,000. Geography Chiaiano is a hilly and wooded area that lies between Camaldoli and the Campi Flegrei. History Archaeologically, the area is of interest, displaying rem ...

Marianella Piscinola, or Piscinola-Marianella, is a northern suburb of Naples, Italy, with a population of ca. 20,000. It is bordered to the north by the Scampia district, north-west with the municipality of Mugnano of Naples, on the west by the Chiaiano di ...

Piscinola Piscinola, or Piscinola-Marianella, is a northern suburb of Naples, Italy, with a population of ca. 20,000. It is bordered to the north by the Scampia district, north-west with the municipality of Mugnano of Naples, on the west by the Chiaiano di ...

Giugliano Giugliano in Campania , also known simply as Giugliano, is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, Italy. , it had some 124,000 inhabitants,Melito Melito of Sardis ( el, Μελίτων Σάρδεων ''Melítōn Sárdeōn''; died ) was the bishop of Sardis near Smyrna in western Anatolia, and a great authority in early Christianity. Melito held a foremost place in terms of bishops in Asia ...

is under the control of the Scissionisti.

Raffaele Imperiale Raffaele Imperiale (born 24 October 1974) is an Italian criminal and a member of the Camorra. He is considered by the authorities as one of the most important drug traffickers affiliated with the Camorra. He was on the list of the most wanted ...

, one of the most important drug traffickers of Naples, and an important affiliate of the Amato-Pagano clan, was involved in large scale cocaine trafficking from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In the 1990s he was a member of the Di Lauro clan, but changed sides becoming an affiliate of the Scissionisti first and of the Amato-Pagano later. Imperiale worked in Amsterdam until 2008. In 2016, two stolen

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...

paintings from the

Van Gogh Museum The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened on ...

in Amsterdam in 2002 were recovered in a villa near

, owned by him. Imperiale was sentenced to 18 years ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in absen ...

'' for drug offenses.

Leaders

* 2004-2009 —

— Arrested on April 17, 2009.Naples mafia leader held in Spain
BBC News, May 18, 2009 * 2004-2010 — Cesare Pagano — Arrested on July 8, 2010. Serving a life sentence in prison. * 2010-2014 — Mariano Riccio — Arrested on February 4, 2014. * 2014-2017 — Rosaria Pagano — Sister of Cesare Pagano and widow of Pietro Amato, brother of Raffaele Amato. Arrested on January 17, 2017. * 2017–present — Emanuele Amato — Nephew of Raffaele Amato.

Historical allies

In addition to the faction commanded by the Amato-Pagano, other clans were most often included in the "Scissionisti di Secondigliano", such as: *Abbinante clan (Marano) - **Boss: ''Raffaele Abbinante'', a.k.a. "Papale e Marano", brothers Antonio and Giudo, nephew Francesco (they were originally part of the Di Lauro clan, but were caught up in a 2002 sweep that jailed boss Raffaele, a former Di Lauro lieutenant. Then they aligned with the scissionisti). *Notturno clan (Scampia) - **Boss: ''Raffaele Notturno'' and ''Gennaro Notturno'' a.k.a. "‘o sarracin" (Gennaro 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 ...

'' and Raffaele is in jail). *Abete clan (Scampia) - **Boss: ''Arcangelo Abete''. (Currently serving a life sentence in prison.) *Pariante clan (Bacoli, Monte di Procida) - **Boss: ''Rosario Pariante'' (Pariante was a former Di Lauro lieutenant, who split with the group joining the scissionisti alliance in late 2004). *Marino clan (Case Celesti, Secondigliano) - **Boss: ''Gennaro Marino'', a.k.a. "‘o McKay". Head of the military wing of the Scissionisti. Eventually, after the Scampia feud, the Marino clan went to war against the Scissionisti. After the end of the feud against the Di Lauro clan, more precisely in 2012, most of the former groups that formed the "Scissionisti di Secondigliano" started a internal war, one example was the so-called "Second Scampia feud", a war waged between the Amato-Pagano clan against the Abete, Abbinante and Notturno clans.

Current status

According to the

Direzione Investigativa Antimafia The Direzione Investigativa Antimafia ('Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate'), also known as DIA, is an Italian multi-force investigation body under the Department of Public Security of the Ministry of the Interior. Its main task is the fight agai ...

, despite the arrests of important members of the organization, the Amato-Pagano clan continues to maintain the monopoly of drug trafficking and military control of the territory through extortion, having a leading role in the criminal activities in the north region of the city of Naples. The Amato-Pagano clan had also a own faction specialized in trafficking drugs via the

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

, the group was led by Sabev Tsvetan, a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n citizen. In 2020, Tsvetan has decided to break omertà and become a

. According to the investigations, his collaboration would be another blow to the organization.

In popular culture

* ''

Gomorrah (TV series) ''Gomorrah'' ( it, Gomorra - La serie) is an Italian crime drama television series created by Roberto Saviano for Sky Atlantic. Based on Saviano's book of the same name, the show premiered on Sky Atlantic in Italy on 6 May 2014 and ran for five ...

'' Inspired in the

and in their war against the Scissionisti di Secondigliano led by Raffaele Amato.

References

Sources

* *
Mappa della camorra: ecco chi comanda in Italia e all’estero
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scissionisti Di Secondigliano Camorra clans Di Lauro clan Organizations established in 2004 Organised crime groups in Spain