Two weeks ago, the Italian Carabinieri launched an operation against the Contini clan, a powerful group within the Camorra mafia of Campania.
But while police raids against mafia organizations are common in Italy, the June 12 operation was unusual: a hospital was at the center of the investigation.
It has long been known that the Contini clan dominates the San Giovanni Bosco hospital in Naples, but only now are full details beginning to emerge.
Investigators discovered that the mob created what one magistrate called an “anti-state,” using the hospital as a hub to raise cash and facilitate mob murders.
Gangsters held meetings in key hospital wards, used ambulances to distribute medications, expedited patient follow-up (for a price), and ran accident insurance scams.
Investigators also discovered that mobsters raided San Giovanni Bosco’s medical supplies to create “murder kits” for mafia hitmen to use in carrying out their jobs.
It has long been known that the Contini clan dominates Naples’ San Giovanni Bosco hospital (pictured), but full details are only now beginning to emerge.
In the police operation earlier this month, 11 people were arrested, eight of whom were sent to prison and three under house arrest.
The crackdown was accompanied by a 481-page order detailing how the Contini clan took over the 156-bed hospital and became a healthcare provider for their own monetary benefit.
A clan traitor, Teodoro de Rosa, told investigators that “ninety percent of the hospital was corrupt.” according to the times.
The clan’s ability to take control of the hospital was, The Times reported, inadvertently caused by the Italian government passing a law to help ex-convicts get jobs in the health service.
This resulted in mobsters fresh out of jail flooding some rooms.
One of those mobsters was Paolo di Mauro, a leader of the Contini clan, which is among the most powerful groups within the Naples-based Camorra mafia.
Her influence on the hospital earned her the nickname “The Nurse.”
Francesco Emilio Borrelli, a local MP, told the Times: “She never actually showed up for work, but she received a salary and was given the nickname ‘the nurse.'” When she died (in 2018), mourning posters appeared in the hospital. for his death.
Paolo di Mauro, a leader of the Contini clan, one of the most powerful groups of the Naples-based Camorra mafia, was nicknamed “The Nurse.”
Borrelli has campaigned against the Camorra and was attacked in the hospital car park while trying to protest against gangsters selling parking tickets.
But control of the hospital car park was just one of many aspects of Contini’s master strategy to take over San Giovanni Bosco, which is believed to have been run by Gennaro Manetta, 45, known as Genny Maradona.
The Times reports that the clan trusted him to carry out the plan, even though, on paper, he was just a cleaner in the hospital’s radiology department.
Under his direction, the gangsters took over the daily operation of the hospital cafeteria, the pizzeria and the cleaning service.
Doctors were intimidated and silenced, while gangsters stocked up on supplies in medical warehouses and held meetings in wards. Clan leaders moved the location of these meetings around the hospital for fear of police microphones, which meant the mafia did business in the intensive care and gynecology wards.
The bosses are also believed to have created “murder kits” for their hitmen, containing doctor’s gowns, surgical gloves and medical gel.
The gel was applied to the hitmen’s hair and eyebrows to stop hair loss at the crime scene, which could otherwise lead to the discovery of their DNA.
As another source of money, the mafia allowed patients facing a long wait for treatment to pay cash to skip the line.
The Contini also allowed only mafia-affiliated undertakers to collect bodies from the hospital mortuary.
It was discovered that the mafia’s lawyers had been assisting in the fraud.
Insurance fraud was carried out on an industrial scale, extracting millions of euros from insurers. Police say emergency room staff were ordered to write up false injury reports, combined with old x-rays of broken bones.
These were sent to mafia lawyers who would sort out the paperwork.
Gennaro Manetta (pictured), 45, known as Genny Maradona, is believed to have spearheaded the mafia’s day-to-day control of the hospital. The Times reports that the clan trusted him to carry out the plan, even though, on paper, he was just a cleaner at the hospital.
A hospital worker was hired to damage the cars and provide evidence of the accidents that caused the “injuries.”
This plan, one researcher said, has driven up car insurance prices in Naples.
False medical reports were also altered to help gangsters get out of jail, investigative documents show.
The hospital was also used to transfer drugs.
Shipments of cocaine were hidden inside the facility’s ambulances to transport it around the city. These shipments were accompanied by a fake patient and drivers even used the emergency siren to navigate traffic.
What’s more, after the Contini clan decreed that no drug transactions should take place in Amicizia (their home consists of several social houses next to the hospital), the dealers were transferred to the hospital and the drug addicts were sent to the roof to receive their fix .
Even though the hospital was used as a base for the criminal enterprise, the facility was still able to function as a medical center and standards were maintained.
However, scandals affected the hospital. Mouse infestations were discovered in their buildings, while some patients were found covered in ants.
Others were abandoned in the hallways and thrown on the floor due to a shortage of beds.
The extent of the clan’s control has stunned officials.
The judge of Naples, Federica Colucci, stated that the Contini clan “has taken over entire commercial and business sectors, as well as some absolutely critical public structures, such as some of the most important hospitals in Naples, used not only to organize criminal summits or to receive victims of usurious or extortionist relationships, but also as an additional tool to manage their mafia power.’
However, knowledge of the clan’s control over the hospital is not new.
In 2019, 126 arrests were made in an attempt to crack down on the enterprise.
However, Manetta remained at large and continued his activities at the facility, where he was regularly found near the entrance making deals.
The latest police operation comes from a telephone intervention dated October 13, 2022, when investigators discovered a gangster contacting another suspect to have a friend admitted to the hospital.
Edoardo Contini, also known as Edoardo’o Romano, is the founder of the Contini clan and is also one of the most important figures of the Secondigliano Alliance. He was arrested in 2007.
Additionally, Manetta reportedly pushed his luck too far this year when an ambulance was used to transport famous TikTokers and singers to a friend’s store opening in Naples, all with the siren on.
He was among the targets of the latest raid, according to The Times, and was arrested as he got off a plane from Los Angeles.
The British newspaper reported that since the recent arrests, the hospital appears to have returned to relative normality.
However, Borrelli told the publication: “We must not let our guard down, because if the entire tumor is not removed, it will grow again.”