Antonio Bardellino | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1945-05-04)May 4, 1945 |
| Disappeared | May 26, 1988(1988-05-26) (aged 43) Armação dos Búzios,Brazil |
| Status | Missing for 37 years and 6 months |
| Allegiance | Casalesi clan /Camorra |
Antonio Bardellino (Italian pronunciation:[anˈtɔːnjobardelˈliːno]; May 4, 1945 – May 26, 1988) was a powerfulCamorrista andboss of theCasalesi clan, having a prominent role in the organized crime in the province ofCaserta during the 1980s. He was one of the last of the old-style Camorra godfathers.
Originally fromSan Cipriano d'Aversa in theItalian province ofCaserta, Bardellino was an importantCosa Nostra affiliate in the region ofCampania. "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 thepentitoPasquale Galasso.[1] He was the founder of theCasalesi clan, 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 southernLazio through theagro aversano (countryside nearAversa), toNaples.
Bardellino had close and powerful contacts within theSicilian Mafia, initially with the Porta Nuova family ofPippo Calò.[2] He was one of the few Camorra bosses who were also initiated intoCosa Nostra. Together withLorenzo Nuvoletta andMichele Zaza, he was sworn in to seal a pact oncigarette smuggling in 1975.[3][4]
In contrast to theNuvoletta brothers, who were allied with theCorleonesi headed byLuciano Leggio andSalvatore Riina, Bardellino was allied withRosario Riccobono,Stefano Bontade,Gaetano Badalamenti, andTommaso Buscetta, all heads of fallenPalermo families which were defeated by the Corleonesi in theSecond Mafia War and forced to flee.
It is believed that Bardellino was the initiator of the Casalesi clan in the area ofCasal di Principe 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 legitimate economy with the proceeds of illicitdrug trafficking. This was favoured by the1980 Irpinia earthquake and the subsequent reconstruction, which prompted the families to create a consortium for their companies that performed the work of earth-moving and construction. Another factor was the great entrepreneurial ability of Bardellino himself. He owned a fish flour import-export business together with other clans, which in fact covered up aBraziliancocaine smuggling operation. Besides trafficking cocaine, he was involved in theheroin trade with Lorenzo Nuvoletta and Ciro Mazzarella, supplying the Sicilian Mafia.[5]
In the 1980s, Bardellino realized that cocaine, not heroin, would become the more profitable drug and organized a trafficking operation smuggling it from Latin America toAversa via his front business. Heroin was smuggled as well, and shipments to theGambino crime family were concealed inside espresso filters. When one shipment was intercepted by the authorities, Bardellino reportedly calledJohn Gotti and told him; "Don't worry, now we're sending twice as much the other way".[6]
Bardellino was the main exponent of theNuova Famiglia (NF), a confederation of clans that was formed to contrast the growing power of the predominantNuova Camorra Organizzata (NCO), led byRaffaele Cutolo. The NF consisted of Bardellino, Michele Zaza (a Camorra boss with strong ties withCosa Nostra), the Gionta clan (fromTorre Annunziata), theNuvoletta clan fromMarano, theAlfieri clan ofSaviano led byCarmine Alfieri, the Galasso clan ofPoggiomarino (led byPasquale Galasso), the Giuliano clan fromNaples' quarterForcella (led byLuigi Giuliano) and theVollaro clan fromPortici (led byLuigi Vollaro).[7]
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.
While in theSecond Mafia War the Corleonesi exterminated the Bontade-Buscetta-Inzerillo-Badalamenti faction, its effects were being felt on the Camorra. The Corleonesi boss, Salvatore Riina, mandatedLorenzo Nuvoletta 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 Nuvolettas 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, Brazil andSanto Domingo.
Towards the end of 1982, thanks to a tip off from the local police, Antonio Bardellino managed to evade capture in his Rio de Janeiro apartment. Despite this setback, a meeting was soon arranged between Bardellino and the Nuvolettas inZurich, 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 inBarcelona, Spain in November 1983,[8] but he was inexplicably released on bail and disappeared soon afterwards.[9][10]
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 atTorre Annunziata, 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 theTorre 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 ofCaserta and Naples. In spite of being a fugitive sought byInterpol, Bardellino could exercise his power and coordinate criminal activities unhindered, but the disagreements came with the Casalesi itself.
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 atBúzios, 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.[11] However, this story has never been verified because his body was never found and the alleged assassin, Iovine, was himself murdered in Portugal in 1991 while using a phone booth. These circumstances have fuelled a legend that Bardellino is still alive,[12] 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 apentito was asked about the status of Bardellino during a testimony before theAntimafia Commission, he replied: "Is it already obvious that Bardellino died? I do not know, but I do not believe that he is dead."[13] After the news of Bardellino's death spread, his family left their homes and native areas to take refuge inFormia 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.[14]
His former allyUmberto Ammaturo, who turned state witness (pentito), also said Bardellino was still alive when he gave a rare interview toLa Repubblica newspaper in May 2010.[15]