It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy , dating to the 17th century. The Camorra's organizational structure is divided into individual groups called "clans". Every capo or "boss" is the head of a clan, in which there may be tens or hundreds of affiliates, depending on the clan's power and structure. The Camorra's main businesses are drug trafficking , racketeering , counterfeiting , and money laundering. It is also not unusual for Camorra clans to infiltrate the politics of their respective areas.
Since the early s and its involvement in the drug trafficking business, the Camorra has acquired a strong presence in other European countries, particularly Spain. Usually, Camorra clans maintain close contact with South American drug cartels, which facilitates the arrival of drugs in Europe. According to Naples public prosecutor Giovanni Melillo, during a speech of the Antimafia Commission , the most powerful groups of the Camorra in the present day are the Mazzarella clan and the Secondigliano Alliance.
The latter is an alliance of the Licciardi , Contini and Mallardo clans. The origins of the Camorra are unclear. Officials of the Kingdom of Naples may have introduced the organisation to the area, or it may have developed gradually from small criminal gangs operating in Neapolitan society near the end of the 18th century. The first official use of camorra as a word dates from , when a royal decree authorised the establishment of eight gambling houses in Naples.
The word is likely a blend, or portmanteau, of " capo " boss and a Neapolitan street game, the " morra ". The Camorra emerged during the chaotic power vacuum between and , when the Parthenopean Republic was proclaimed on the wave of the French Revolution and the Bourbon Restoration. The first official mention of the Camorra as an organisation dates from , when police records detail a disciplinary meeting of the Camorra, a tribunal known as the Gran Mamma.
That year the first written statute of the Camorra, the frieno , was discovered, indicating a stable organisational structure in the underworld. Another statute was discovered in , related to initiation rites and funds set aside for the families of those imprisoned. The evolution into more organised formations indicated a qualitative change: the Camorra and camorristi were no longer local gangs living off theft and extortion; they had a fixed structure and some kind of hierarchy.
