All bread suppliers in the northern neighbourhoods of Naples (pictured) have been forced to buy their products from bakeries controlled by the Camorra mafia, police claim.
[From article]
In Italy's southern city of Naples, if you want to buy or sell bread, there's only one supplier to go to - and you'd better not refuse.
So claim Italian police who on Monday said they arrested 24 people suspected of belonging to a mafia group which has controlled the market for bread in the city for years.
From supermarkets to street vendors, all bread suppliers in the northern neighbourhoods of Naples have been forced to buy their products from bakeries controlled by the Camorra mafia - or else face the consequences.
So claim Italian police who on Monday said they arrested 24 people suspected of belonging to a mafia group which has controlled the market for bread in the city for years.
From supermarkets to street vendors, all bread suppliers in the northern neighbourhoods of Naples have been forced to buy their products from bakeries controlled by the Camorra mafia - or else face the consequences.
The mobsters forced stores to buy their bakeries' bread, with prices considerably higher than market prices, said Lt. Col. Giuseppe Furciniti, commander of the organized crime unit in Naples of the national financial police corps.
Most merchants bought the Camorra-linked bread, Furciniti said. 'Only a few dared not to,' knowing if they spurned the Camorra, they risked seeing their shops burned or suffer other damage, he said.
With wholesale prices hiked by as much as 30 euro cents a kilogram, the profits went to clan coffers, authorities said. Since most of the neighborhood shops sold the Camorra-linked bread, consumers also saw bread prices rise.
Extortion is one mainstay of the Naples-based syndicate. Besides demanding 'protection money' the Camorra often demands that businesses buy wares from certain suppliers.
'This time it was bread, other times it has been buffalo mozzarella,' the prized, creamy cheese, Furciniti said.
Most merchants bought the Camorra-linked bread, Furciniti said. 'Only a few dared not to,' knowing if they spurned the Camorra, they risked seeing their shops burned or suffer other damage, he said.
With wholesale prices hiked by as much as 30 euro cents a kilogram, the profits went to clan coffers, authorities said. Since most of the neighborhood shops sold the Camorra-linked bread, consumers also saw bread prices rise.
Extortion is one mainstay of the Naples-based syndicate. Besides demanding 'protection money' the Camorra often demands that businesses buy wares from certain suppliers.
'This time it was bread, other times it has been buffalo mozzarella,' the prized, creamy cheese, Furciniti said.
Since the arrest of Camorra boss Carlo Lo Russo in April in the French Riviera city of Nice, investigators have been looking into his family and relatives.
Surveillance and wire taps led to Monday's arrests on alleged charges ranging from mafia association, drug trafficking and racketeering to weapons possession and murder.
The Italian mafia consists of three main groups: the Cosa Nostra in Sicily, the Camorra in Naples and the 'Ndrangheta in southwest Calabria.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3662292/Not-just-crumbs-Naples-mobsters-extort-high-price-bread.html
Surveillance and wire taps led to Monday's arrests on alleged charges ranging from mafia association, drug trafficking and racketeering to weapons possession and murder.
The Italian mafia consists of three main groups: the Cosa Nostra in Sicily, the Camorra in Naples and the 'Ndrangheta in southwest Calabria.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3662292/Not-just-crumbs-Naples-mobsters-extort-high-price-bread.html
They do love making dough! Police arrest 24 in crackdown on Naples Mafia forcing shopkeepers to buy BREAD at inflated prices
Police arrested 24 people suspected of controlling the bread market
They said Camorra mafia forced vendors to buy bread from their bakeries
Those who refused 'risked having their shops burned down or vandalised'
By ASSOCIATED PRESS and AFP and TED THORNHILL FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 11:11 EST, 27 June 2016 | UPDATED: 07:58 EST, 28 June 2016
