Italy's Big Problem: the Camorra

Until recently, whenever I thought of organized crime in Italy, I thought of Godfather II and its turn-of-the-century flashbacks. But the mob is as big a problem as ever in Italy, and especially in Naples, home of the Camorra. You've heard of the Mafia, I'm sure -- they're from Sicily. The Camorra is larger, older, and by many accounts, more dangerous. Recent flare-ups in violence around Naples, and new alignments between the Camorra and Nigerian and Albanian gangs seem to indicate that the Italian government and police have been stymied in their efforts to clamp down on the Camorra.

Last year, an amazing Italian-language film was released called Gomorrah, about the Camorra. It's been hailed as a masterpiece. It's also amazingly violent. It makes Naples look like South Los Angeles during the worst spates of gang violence. Here's the trailer:

And for those who are interested, I happened across this great documentary on the Camorra. It's really scary stuff.