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The son of the Italian mafia boss, who has “renounced crime” and stood for election as an anti-mafia candidate, is arrested on suspicion of extorting protection money

The son of a powerful Naples mafia boss who once distanced himself from his criminal roots has been arrested along with his father on possible extortion charges.

In 2019, 28-year-old Antonio Piccirillo broke the Italian Mafia's code of silence to denounce the actions of the Camorra group – one of Italy's oldest and largest criminal organizations, to which his family has been a member for generations.

His arrest now raises questions about whether his anti-Mafia campaign was just a facade, as investigators have accused Antonio and his father of making extortion demands against business owners who manage rental boat moorings in Mergellina, Naples.

Antonio is said to have pretended to be his father's envoy and demanded thousands of euros.

The investigation that led to his arrest began after Italian TikToker Rita De Crescenzo – whose husband managed a mooring – allegedly received death threats from the father-son duo and reported it.

Antonio Piccirillo (pictured), the son of a powerful Naples mafia boss who once distanced himself from his criminal roots, was arrested along with his father on possible extortion charges

His arrest now raises questions about whether his anti-Mafia campaign was a sham, as investigators have accused Antonio and his father of making extortion demands against senior business owners

His arrest now raises questions about whether his anti-Mafia campaign was a sham, as investigators have accused Antonio and his father of making extortion demands against senior business owners

“When you file a complaint, make sure you write that there are two of us you want to kill – me and my father,” Antonio reportedly told them.

Rosario, one of the bosses of the Torretta Camorra clan, was last imprisoned in 2022 on charges of extortion and usury.

But by then, Antonio was said to have already turned his back on his father after a four-year-old was injured by a stray bullet during a shootout in a square in Naples in 2019.

After the tragic incident, he took part in an anti-mafia demonstration where he grabbed a megaphone and told the crowd: “My name is Antonio Piccirillo.” I am the son of Rosario Piccirillo, who made many mistakes in his life and was a member of the Italian Camorra mafia.

“Always love your parents, but distance yourself from their lifestyle because it leads nowhere and only causes suffering.”

He then regularly took part in anti-Mafia protests, denouncing the Camorra organized crime group as a “mountain of shit”.

In 2021, he even ran as a city councilor in local elections, but only won a few hundred votes.

Antonio once told Spanish newspaper El Pais that his biggest regret was “not speaking out sooner.”

Antonio and his father have made extortion demands against business owners who manage rental boat moorings in Mergellina, Naples

Antonio and his father have made extortion demands against business owners who manage rental boat moorings in Mergellina, Naples

The latest arrest of the 28-year-old and his father came after attackers from Camorra shot dead an engineer in Naples earlier this year after he exposed the Italian mafia organization's construction crime.

Salvatore Coppola, 66, was shot in the face by his killers on March 12 in the parking lot of a Deco store in San Giovanni a Teduccio, just meters from an Apple headquarters.

The victim reportedly had ties to the mafia in the past and was once a white-collar criminal close to the Mazzarella clan – historically considered one of the Camorra's most powerful groups.

But after he left the criminal organization to cooperate with the justice system, police believe he was murdered because he violated the Mafia's strict code of silence.

Coppola was ambushed by the Camorra assassins on March 12 before they fled – reportedly leaving no eyewitnesses.

The Camorra is considered one of Italy's oldest and largest criminal organizations, dating back to the seventh century.

They originally came from the Campania region and came to power in the 19th century.

The Camorra's organizational structure is divided into individual groups, so-called “clans”, of which there are estimated to be around 180.