Italian police have uncovered more than three million euros in cash and a concealed cache of weapons inside the walls of a house in Naples, belonging to an alleged drug baron, according to a senior anti-mafia prosecutor speaking to AFP on Wednesday, September 23.
The operation, carried out in Caivano—a northeastern suburb of Naples under the grip of the Camorra—resulted in the seizure of the money and arms last year, stated Naples prosecutor Nicola Gratteri.
Tip from Turncoat Led to Discovery
The breakthrough came from a suspect arrested in July 2025 who became a cooperating witness. Two days after his arrest, police raided the property.
“We all knew the money was there, but not exactly where; so we searched the house from top to bottom. Many of the bundles of cash were hidden in the walls, in compartments built into fitted furniture,” Gratteri explained.
“Others were concealed under the floor and in the shower drain. We also found Kalashnikovs, weapons of war,” he added, along with “collector’s watches.”
Camorra’s Grip on Caivano
Investigators had focused on a neighborhood in Caivano known as a hub for large-scale drug trafficking, particularly cocaine.
The informant told police the money was kept by the drug baron’s wife, whose minor children were part of a team tasked with guarding it around the clock, according to local news site Anteprime24. The hiding spots were also protected by electronic security systems, the site reported.
The seizure was part of an investigation launched in 2023, which culminated on Monday, September 21, with the arrest of 34 individuals accused of belonging to an armed criminal association and using mafia methods to traffic narcotics.
One of Italy’s Three Main Mafias
The Camorra, based primarily in the Naples region, is one of Italy’s three main organized crime groups, alongside Sicily’s Cosa Nostra and Calabria’s ‘Ndrangheta.
Wiretaps played a crucial role in the investigation—as in all probes targeting organized crime, Gratteri noted. “But it is clear that the trafficking has not stopped; it has simply moved to other areas,” he observed.
