Antonio Bardellino
Encyclopedia
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
and boss of the Casalesi clan
Casalesi clan
The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Salerno.Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederation of clans in the Caserta area...
, having a prominent role in the organized crime in the province of Caserta
Caserta
Caserta is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial and industrial comune and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Campanian Subapennine mountain range...
during the 1980s. He was one of the last of the old style Camorra godfathers.
Powerful Camorrista
Originally from San Cipriano d'AversaSan Cipriano d'Aversa
San Cipriano d'Aversa is a comune in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about 20 km northwest of Naples and about 20 km southwest of Caserta.-References:...
in the Province of Caserta
Province of Caserta
The Province of Caserta is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Caserta. The former royal palace of Caserta is located near to the city.It has an area of 2,639 km², and a total population of 879,342...
, Bardellino was an important Cosa Nostra affiliate in the region of Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
. "Bardellino was the reference point of all Camorra clans, even the ones that could not stand him. With his charisma he managed to maintain a certain equilibrium in Campania," according to the pentito
Pentito
Pentito designates people in Italy who, formerly part of criminal or terrorist organizations, following their arrests decide to "repent" and collaborate with the judicial system to help investigations...
Pasquale Galasso
Pasquale Galasso
Pasquale Galasso is a former boss of the Galasso clan, a clan of the Camorra, the Neapolitan crime organization. Since August 1992, he has been a pentito , collaborating with the Italian justice. He revealed many intricate secrets about the Camorra...
. He was the founder of the Casalesi clan
Casalesi clan
The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Salerno.Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederation of clans in the Caserta area...
, around which for almost a decade moved a united confederation of families (Schiavone, Bidognetti, Zagaria, Iovine, Venosa) rooted in a large territory which extended from southern Lazio through the agro aversano (countryside near Aversa
Aversa
Aversa is a town and comune in the Province of Caserta in Campania southern Italy, about 15 kilometres north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the agro aversano, producing wine and cheese...
), to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
.
Ties with Cosa Nostra
He had close and powerful contacts within the Sicilian Mafia, initially with the Porta Nuova family of Pippo Calò. He was one of the few Camorra bosses who were also initiated in Cosa Nostra. Together with Lorenzo NuvolettaLorenzo Nuvoletta
Lorenzo Nuvoletta was the head of the Nuvoletta clan, a Neapolitan Camorra organisation operating from the town of Marano di Napoli, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Naples.-The Nuvoletta clan:...
and Michele Zaza
Michele Zaza
Michele Zaza was a member of the Neapolitan Camorra who was also initiated in the Sicilian Mafia. He was known as "’O Pazzo" due to his outspoken and improbable public pronouncements...
he was sworn in to seal a pact on cigarette smuggling in 1975.
In contrast to the Nuvoletta
Nuvoletta clan
The Nuvoletta clan is a Neapolitan Camorra clan operating from the town of Marano di Napoli, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Naples, southern Italy.-Background:...
brothers who were allied with the Corleonesi
Corleonesi
The Corleonesi is the name given to a faction within the Sicilian Mafia that dominated Cosa Nostra in the 1980s and the 1990s. It was called the Corleonesi because its most important leaders came from the town of Corleone, first Luciano Leggio and later Totò Riina, Bernardo Provenzano and Leoluca...
headed by Luciano Liggio and Salvatore Riina
Salvatore Riina
Salvatore "Totò" Riina is a member of the Sicilian Mafia who became the most powerful member of the criminal organization in the early 1980s. Fellow mobsters nicknamed him The Beast due to his violent nature, or sometimes The Short One due to his diminutive stature...
, Bardellino was allied with Rosario Riccobono
Rosario Riccobono
Rosario Riccobono was a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was the boss of Partanna Mondello, a suburb of Palermo, his native city...
, Stefano Bontade
Stefano Bontade
Stefano Bontade was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. Some sources spell his surname Bontate. He was the capomafia of the Santa Maria di Gesù Family in Palermo...
, Gaetano Badalamenti
Gaetano Badalamenti
Gaetano Badalamenti was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. Don Tano Badalamenti was the capofamiglia of his hometown Cinisi, Sicily, and headed the Sicilian Mafia Commission in the 1970s...
, and Tommaso Buscetta
Tommaso Buscetta
Tommaso Buscetta was a Sicilian mafioso. Although he was not the first pentito in the Italian witness protection program, he is widely recognized as the first important one breaking omertà...
, all heads of fallen Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
families which were defeated by the Corleonesi in the Second Mafia War
Second Mafia War
The Second Mafia War was a conflict within the Sicilian Mafia, mostly taking place in the early 1980s. As with any criminal organization, the history of the Sicilian Mafia is replete with conflicts and power struggles, and the violence that results from them, but these are generally localised and...
, and forced to flee.
Underworld Rackets
It is believed that Antonio Bardellino was the initiator of the Casalesi clanCasalesi clan
The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from Casal di Principe in the province of Caserta between Naples and Salerno.Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederation of clans in the Caserta area...
in the area of Casal di Principe
Casal di Principe
Casal di Principe is a comune in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about 25 km northwest of Naples and about 20 km southwest of Caserta....
and San Cipriano d'Aversa, especially due to the transformation he implemented within the clan. The rituals of affiliation remained as well as the rate of murders, but the leap in quality was the continued infiltration of the legal capitalist economy with the proceeds of illicit drug trafficking. This was favoured by the 1980 Irpinia earthquake
1980 Irpinia earthquake
The 1980 Irpinia earthquake took place in the Irpinia region in Southern Italy on Sunday, November 23, 1980. Measuring 6.89 on the Richter Scale, the quake, centered on the village of Conza, killed 2,914 people, injured more than 10,000 and left 300,000 homeless. It is known in Italy as Terremoto...
and the subsequent reconstruction, that prompted the families to create a consortium for their companies that performed the work of earth-moving, building houses and roads. Another factor was the great entrepreneurial ability of Bardellino himself. He owned an import/export firm of fish meal together with other clans, which in fact covered up a cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
smuggling operation from Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Besides trafficking cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
trade, he was involved in the heroin trade with Lorenzo Nuvoletta and Ciro Mazzarella, supplying the Sicilian Mafia.
In the 1980s, Bardellino realized that cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, not heroin, would become the more profitable drug and organized a trafficking operation smuggling it from Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
to Aversa
Aversa
Aversa is a town and comune in the Province of Caserta in Campania southern Italy, about 15 kilometres north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the agro aversano, producing wine and cheese...
via a fish flour import-export business. Heroin was smuggled as well, and shipments to the Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
were concealed inside espresso filters. When one shipment was intercepted by the authorities, Bardellino reportedly called John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
and told him; "Don't worry, now we're sending twice as much the other way".
Nuova Famiglia
Bardellino was the main exponent of the Nuova FamigliaNuova Famiglia
The Nuova Famiglia was an Italian Camorra criminal organization created in the 1980s to face Raffaele Cutolo's Nuova Camorra Organizzata....
(NF), a confederation of clans that was formed to contrast the growing power of the predominant Nuova Camorra Organizzata
Nuova Camorra Organizzata
The Nuova Camorra Organizzata 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...
(NCO), led by Raffaele Cutolo
Raffaele Cutolo
Raffaele Cutolo is an Italian crime boss and the charismatic leader of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata , an organisation he built to renew the Camorra. Cutolo has a variety of nicknames including "'o Vangelo" , "'o Principe" , "'o Professore" and "'o Monaco"...
. The NF consisted of Bardellino, Michele Zaza (a Camorra boss with strong ties with Cosa Nostra), the Gionta clan (from Torre Annunziata
Torre Annunziata
Torre Annunziata is a city and comune in the province of Naples, region of Campania in Italy. It is located at the Gulf of Naples at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius.-History:...
), the Nuvoletta clan
Nuvoletta clan
The Nuvoletta clan is a Neapolitan Camorra clan operating from the town of Marano di Napoli, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Naples, southern Italy.-Background:...
from Marano
Marano
Marano as a surname has noble Italian origin, derives from last name Marani of Vicenza that came to Naples in the 16th century with Francesco Antonio buried in the church of Sant'Antonelli to Caponapoli in the ancient center of Naples city...
, the Alfieri clan
Alfieri clan
The Alfieri clan was a Neapolitan Camorra clan operating on the north-east of Naples, with its sphere of influence in the municipalities of Saviano and Nola.-History:...
of Saviano
Saviano
Saviano is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 25 km northeast of Naples. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 15,114 and an area of 13.8 km².-Geography:...
led by Carmine Alfieri
Carmine Alfieri
Carmine Alfieri is an Italian Camorra boss, who rose from Piazzolla di Nola to become one of the most powerful members of Neapolitan Camorra in the 1980s. As boss of the Alfieri clan, he was the undisputed head of the Camorra from 1984 until his arrest in 1992...
, the Galasso clan of Poggiomarino
Poggiomarino
Poggiomarino is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 25 km east of Naples.-History:...
(led by Pasquale Galasso
Pasquale Galasso
Pasquale Galasso is a former boss of the Galasso clan, a clan of the Camorra, the Neapolitan crime organization. Since August 1992, he has been a pentito , collaborating with the Italian justice. He revealed many intricate secrets about the Camorra...
), the Giuliano clan from Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
' quarter Forcella (led by Luigi Giuliano
Luigi Giuliano
Luigi Giuliano is a former Italian Camorrista who was the boss of the powerful Giuliano clan, based in the district of Forcella, Naples. He had multiple nicknames including "'o rre" and "Lovigno", which is an amalgamation of Luigi and love...
and the Vollaro clan
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:...
from Portici
Portici
Portici is a town and comune of the Province of Naples in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is the site of the Portici Royal Palace.-Geography:...
(led by Luigi Vollaro
Luigi Vollaro
Luigi Vollaro is a member of the Camorra and boss of his name-sake, the Vollaro clan from Portici and San Sebastiano a Vesuvio, a small village in the Vesuvius area, east of Naples....
).
The resulting war between the NF and the NCO resulted in a large number of victims from both sides, and ended with the NCO's defeat and the victory of the NF. However, with Cutolo and the NCO out of the picture, the NF alliance soon disintegrated, with a war breaking out between the Bardellino and Nuvoletta clans towards the end of 1983.
War with the Nuvoletta's
While the Second Mafia WarSecond Mafia War
The Second Mafia War was a conflict within the Sicilian Mafia, mostly taking place in the early 1980s. As with any criminal organization, the history of the Sicilian Mafia is replete with conflicts and power struggles, and the violence that results from them, but these are generally localised and...
between the Corleonesi and the Bontade-Buscetta-Inzerillo-Badalamenti faction was being fought in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, its effects were being felt on the Campanian underworld. The Corleonesi boss, Salvatore Riina, mandated Lorenzo Nuvoletta
Lorenzo Nuvoletta
Lorenzo Nuvoletta was the head of the Nuvoletta clan, a Neapolitan Camorra organisation operating from the town of Marano di Napoli, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Naples.-The Nuvoletta clan:...
to order the murder of Tommaso Buscetta. Nuvoletta, in turn, passed the order to Bardellino. The order was not brought to an end, because Bardellino had been good friends with Buscetta in Sicily, and had once shared the same house with Buscetta in Brazil when the latter was absconding. He also deeply distrusted the Nuvoletta's and was unwilling to accept the supremacy of the Nuvoletta brothers with the interference of the Corleonesi. Bardellino's attitude soon marked him for death, and he would spend the last years of life in hiding outside Italy, including Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
.
Towards the end of 1982, thanks to a tip off from the local police, Antonio Bardellino managed to evade capture in his Rio De Janiero apartment. Despite this setback, a meeting was soon arranged between Bardellino and the Nuvolettas in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, but Aniello Nuvoletta was arrested at the rendezvous. Many other leaders of the Nuvoletta clan would have been arrested had they not suffered a chance accident in Northern Italy, near the Swiss border. Bardellino was arrested in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in November 1983, but he was inexpicably released on bail and disappeared soon afterwards.
Victory
The clash with the Nuvoletta clan resulted in Bardellino's victory. An attack was made at the Nuvoletta family's farm in Marano which resulted in the death of Ciro Nuvoletta, one of the brothers. Two months later, events culminated with an attack at Torre AnnunziataTorre Annunziata
Torre Annunziata is a city and comune in the province of Naples, region of Campania in Italy. It is located at the Gulf of Naples at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius.-History:...
, an area infamous for its illegal activities, which led to the massacre of eight members of the Gionta clan allied with the Nuvolettas at the Circolo dei Pescatori (fisherman's club). Another twenty four were wounded. This episode was known as the Torre Annunziata massacre in the local press, and is perhaps the worst gangland massacre to ever take place in Italy.
This victory further allowed Antonio Bardellino to expand his sphere of control and influence to include almost the entire province of Caserta
Caserta
Caserta is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial and industrial comune and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Campanian Subapennine mountain range...
and Naples. In spite of being a fugitive sought by Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
, Bardellino could exercise his power and coordinate criminal activities unhindered, but the disagreements came with the Casalesi itself.
Assassination
According to the official version of the story, on May 26, 1988, Antonio Bardellino was murdered by his right hand man, Mario Iovine in his Brazilian home at Buzios, a beach side resort for the rich and famous in the State of Rio de Janeiro, as part of an internal feud within the Casalesi. However, this story has never been clarified because his body was never found and the alleged assassin, Iovine, was himself murdered in PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in 1991 while using a phone booth. These circumstances have fueled a legend that Bardellino is still alive, and has left power in the hands of the other families within the Casalesi clan in order to ensure the survival of his family.
When his old friend, Tommaso Buscetta who later became a pentito was asked about the status of Bardellino during a testimony before the Antimafia Commission
Antimafia Commission
The Italian Antimafia Commission is a bicameral commission of the Italian Parliament, composed of members from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate . The Antimafia Commission is a commission of inquiry into, initially, the “phenomenon of the Mafia”...
, he replied: "Is it already obvious that Bardellino died? I do not know, but I do not believe that he is dead." After the news of Bardellino's death spread, his family left their homes and native areas to take refuge in Formia
Formia
Formia is a city and comune in the province of Latina, on the Mediterranean coast of Lazio . It is located halfway between Rome and Naples, and lies on the Roman-era Appian Way.-History:...
where they still reside. After the disappearance of Antonio Bardellino, the five families (Schiavone, Iovine, Bidognetti, De Falco and Zagaria) took control, each with their own army.