Those Mazzonari became a clan. And the boss Sandokan who loved Napoleon –

Alessio Gallicola

March 30, 2024

From today we are all a little freer. It is not a gamble, it is the observation of the end of a criminal history, that of the Casalesi Clan, which has marked the life of a region, Campania, and perhaps of the entire country. Francesco Schiavone’s repentance marks the now irreversible decline of a certain counter-power, capable for decades of exercising a surrogate activity for the State thanks above all to the ability to gain people’s consent by offering work in a land of more or less organized unemployment. He regretted it, Schiavone, because that world no longer exists. And today, at 70 years old, following 26 years of hard prison, with 6 children who, once morest his will, have taken his direction and a circle of Camorra families in which almost all have gone on to collaborate with the State, he perhaps felt like doing the figure of the “last Japanese”, the one left with the match in his hand. An unbearable thought for someone with such a criminal pedigree. He belongs to a clan recognized as a “confederation”. Known as “Sandokan” for his resemblance to Kabir Bedi, a nickname that has always irritated him. Six children with Giuseppina Nappa: Nicola, Carmine, Ivanhoe, Walter, and two twins, born while he was in hiding. Sentenced to several life sentences.

The first time behind bars ends at the age of 18, for illegal possession and carrying of firearms, the minimum passport to be taken into consideration by ‘O Sistema. No one better than him can tell us the story of the rise of the Mazzonari, the post-war guappi, to the dimension of one of the most influential mafia clans in the world. Driver and armed escort to the drug trafficker Umberto Ammaturo, promoted to affiliate in 1981. The career towards the top is rapid, Schiavone is as bloodthirsty as he is cunning. Military manager of the clan, he double-crosses to replace the leader Antonio Bardellino. He accuses Mimì Iovine, brother of Mario, boss of the Casalesi, of being a confidant of the carabinieri, provoking his killing on Bardellino’s orders, and unleashing Mario’s revenge, who, under the excuse of a business meeting, goes to Bardellino’s house in Brazil and smashes his skull in with a trowel. Having eliminated ‘O Boss, he invites his nephew and heir, Paride Salzillo, to a summit and strangles him while two affiliates hold his legs and arms. Having killed Mario Iovine in Cascais, Portugal, riddled with bullets in a telephone booth, he becomes the undisputed leader of a clan that has a turnover of 30 billion euros for the Naples DDA. He ends up in handcuffs but the first criminal section of the Supreme Court presided over by Corrado Carnevale cancels the charge of Camorra association. Previously, in ’89, he had also been arrested abroad, in France, thanks to a meticulous investigation carried out by the deputy commissioner of Caserta, Luigi De Stefano.

He also rises to the honors of the country’s economic news because the investigators paint him as one of the most important partners of Cirio and Parmalat in Campania. Throughout the Caserta area, in part of the Neapolitan area, the Marche, Abruzzo and Lucania, thanks to the close alliance with the Casalese Camorra and the bribes paid by the companies to the clans, the milk distributed by Cirio and then by Parmalat conquers 90 percent of the market. The bloodthirsty boss is also passionate regarding history (in particular the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and Napoleon Bonaparte) and epic literature (Homer, the King Arthur cycle). His favorite historical novel is Ivanhoe, by Walter Scott (this is how he baptizes one of his sons). He spent his time in hiding deepening his literary interests and painting religious icons and portraits of Bonaparte and Mussolini. It is said that some shops in Caserta still sell very rare paintings by Schiavone, who reproduced the features of his own face in portraying Jesus Christ. Now, following 26 years, perhaps the hardest work begins for the magistrates who will question Sandokan. How much of what he says is true? And how much will it take to preserve for his heirs the interest and money accumulated over all these years?