Italian police have uncovered more than €3 million in cash hidden within the walls of a house belonging to a suspected local drug baron in Naples. This discovery was confirmed on Wednesday by a senior official from the anti-mafia prosecutor’s office.
The operation is part of an investigation launched in 2023, which culminated in the arrest of 34 individuals accused of being part of an armed criminal organization using mafia tactics to traffic narcotics, according to reports.
Last year, investigators had already found cash and a hidden cache of weapons at a property in Caivano, a suburb northeast of Naples, known for its ties to the Camorra. The information leading to the recent raid was provided by a suspect arrested in July 2025, who became a witness for the prosecution. Just two days after the arrest, police executed a search warrant at the residence.
“We all knew the money was there, but we didn’t know exactly where; so we searched the house from the foundation to the roof. Many of these stacks of cash were hidden in the walls and in compartments made within built-in furniture,” said prosecutor Nicola Gratteri. “Other stacks were found under the floorboards and beneath the shower base. We also discovered Kalashnikov-style weapons, military-grade firearms, and collectible watches,” he added.
Investigators have focused on a neighborhood in Caivano known as a major hub for large-scale drug trafficking, particularly cocaine.
The informant revealed to police that the money was being stored by the drug baron’s wife, whose minor children were reportedly tasked with monitoring it around the clock. According to local news site Anteprime24, the hideouts were also protected by electronic security systems.
The Camorra, primarily based in the Naples region, is one of Italy’s three main organized crime groups, alongside Sicily’s Cosa Nostra and Calabria’s ‘Ndrangheta.
Telephone interceptions played a crucial role in the investigation, which is standard in cases involving organized crime, Gratteri noted.
Caivano made headlines in 2023 after a group sexual assault on two cousins aged 10 and 11 was revealed.
In response, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ordered a large-scale operation, providing funding for the reconstruction of a dilapidated sports center in the neighborhood, increasing the number of social workers, and opening a new police station. “But it is clear that trafficking did not stop; it simply moved to other areas,” Gratteri emphasized.
