The Neapolitan Mob’s Most Dangerous Family | Culture | Vanity Fair

The Neapolitan Mob’s Most Dangerous Family | Culture | Vanity Fair: By the mid-1990s, rape, robbery, assault, and theft had all but disappeared. You could walk anywhere you wanted at any hour. If you had a car or motor scooter, you could park it anywhere without worry, except perhaps for the radio (because, after all, this was Italy). When the important newspaper Il Mattino published an article about illicit gambling in the districts, Di Lauro ordered that the gambling stop—and it did, permanently, within 48 hours. When he decided that the traditional business of extorting protection money from local shopkeepers was causing more trouble than it was worth, he ordered not only that it be halted but that his men start paying full prices, and even thank the shopkeepers for their services. It was strange, but they did. For this and all the favors he gave, he was widely loved—and still is. People say that the difference between Di Lauro and a saint was that Di Lauro delivered the miracles faster.