Built between 1963 and 1980 to accommodate nearly 40,000 people from the poorest districts of Naples, the "Vele" ("sails" in Italian) - bars of buildings in the shape of sails - have long symbolized the influence of the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia. Cinema has taken over this place and has in particular made it the setting for the successful film and series "Gomorra".
However, in the spirit of its architect Franz Di Salvo, the Vele had to recreate the atmosphere of downtown Naples, with its alleys, its neighborhoods ... a place where life would be good. But this utopia collided with local reality. Part of the money for construction was diverted, the buildings remained unfinished, then fell into disrepair and were abandoned by their inhabitants.
War on drugs
After an earthquake in the region in 1980, hundreds of homeless families decided to squat the vacant apartments. The Camorra also infiltrated and wove its web. "The mafia needs a degraded place to develop its activity, a place where the state is absent", explains Davide Cerullo, a former mafia who became a photographer. "That's what happened with the Vele." In a few years, heroin, cocaine and crack have taken to the streets. In the 2000s, Scampia was already the largest drug supermarket in Europe.
The Italian state and the city took a long time to react. In 2009, a large-scale antimafia plan attacked the clans of the Camorra. In the middle of the district, the police station of Scampia thrones like a lookout. "It is an outpost which allows us to observe traffic," explains Commissioner Stabile. "The building opposite was owned by a large Camorra family. We managed to hide cameras in the walls. We dismantled the whole network. In ten years, we have cut drug sales by 90% . "
In the midst of this war on drugs, 200 families are still squatting in the Vele. They do not pay rent, do not benefit from any municipal service, and must illegally connect to the city's electricity and water networks to survive: "We are like ghosts", blows a resident.
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