Murtala Mohamed Kamara, AfricaNews reporter in Freetown, Sierra Leone
Italian mafias have gunned down six West African migrants in the southern Italian city of Naples on Friday. The dead include three Ghanaians, a Liberian and a Togolese national. The incident was linked to a drug trafficking melee with the mafia, Casalesi Clan, local police sources have alleged.
The sixth victim is yet to be identified. A police officer in Castelvolturno, near where the shooting took place was quoted by a South African News Agency as saying, “There has never been so many dead in a shooting, it is a record for the region.”
Media reports allege that the deceased refused to make payment to CC after a successful drug trafficking trade. The CC, who controls the drug trafficking and prostitution trade between Naples and Caseta are regarded as the most powerful mafia group in that region.
Police are also investigating the shooting of a 53-year-old man 20 minutes earlier and whether there is a link between the two incidents. This development sparked demonstration by African migrants in Italy saying the six were not part of any drug trafficking group.
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