Brother of Camorra mafia superboss ‘Sandokan’ arrested
(ANSA) – Caserta, October 24 – Italian police on Thursday arrested Antonio Schiavone, brother of the superboss of the Casalesi clan of the Neapolitan Camorra mafia, Francesco ‘Sandokan’ Schiavone.
‘Sandokan’, nicknamed after Italy’s most popular literary pirate, has been in jail since 1998.
The Casalesi clan was featured in Roberto Saviano’s 2006 bestselling expose’ Gomorrah, and death threats by Casalesi bosses against Saviano have forced the 33-year-old writer into round-the-clock police protection.
Antonio Schiavone is accused of passing on his mobster brother’s order for a 1991 murder, and was taken into custody near his home in Giugliano, a town northwest of Naples.
Antonio is believed to currently hold the reins of the Casalesi clan, and has a criminal record for past Camorra-related crimes. Imprisoned Camorra bosses Francesco Bidognetti and his son Aniello are also accused of a role in the murder of Aldo Scalzone, who was killed in a clan war.
Scalzone was considered the business mind of the De Falco clan of the Camorra, which opposed the Casalesi cartel formed by the Schiavone and Bidognetti families. Investigators believe the two heads of the Casalesi clan, Francesco Schiavone and Francesco Bidognetti, issued the order to kill Aldo Scalzone from prison. Antonio Schiavone is accused of transmitting the order to the clan’s men who carried out the murder.
One of the executioners, who has since become a “penitent” informer, told investigators of Antonio Schiavone’s role.
Francesco Schiavone and another brother, Walter, are currently serving a life sentence for Scalzone’s death, as is another man, Giuseppe Diana. A third man, Franco Di Bona, is serving 13 years for his role in the murder. Italian police in January arrested the son of ‘Sandokan’, Carmine Schiavone, a mobster who was considered the Casalesi ‘prince regent’.
Carmine Schiavone was accused of attempted extortion aggravated by the use of mafia methods.