Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
The toxic reason a mafia boss became a police informant
The Italian Senate is investigating a cluster of cancers near Naples which may have been caused by the mafia's dumping of toxic waste. It's a question that has long been on the conscience of one former mafia boss, who says it was not the violence but pollution that made him turn police informer.
Two decades ago doctors noticed that the incidence of cancer in towns around Naples was on the rise. Since then, the number of tumours found in women has risen by 40%, and those in men by 47%.
...
Schiavone was a major figure in one of Italy's most formidable underworld clans, the Casalesi, part of the mafia network around Naples known as the Camorra. For a time he directed the Casalesi clan's rampant criminality and extreme violence, but later he set out to try to destroy it.
He became what's called a mafia pentito - "a penitent one", siding with the police, and testifying for the state against his fellow mob bosses.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24678624
Two decades ago doctors noticed that the incidence of cancer in towns around Naples was on the rise. Since then, the number of tumours found in women has risen by 40%, and those in men by 47%.
...
Schiavone was a major figure in one of Italy's most formidable underworld clans, the Casalesi, part of the mafia network around Naples known as the Camorra. For a time he directed the Casalesi clan's rampant criminality and extreme violence, but later he set out to try to destroy it.
He became what's called a mafia pentito - "a penitent one", siding with the police, and testifying for the state against his fellow mob bosses.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24678624
