Mob Bombs Target Historic Pizzerias

Businesses refusing to pay 'protection' money risk attacks.

A view of the entrance to the historic Sorbillo pizzeria, in the historic center of Naples, where a bomb was detonated in the early hours of Wednesday, January 16, 2019, damaging the eatery’s metal grating.
A view of the entrance to the historic Sorbillo pizzeria, in the historic center of Naples, where a bomb was detonated in the early hours of Wednesday, January 16, 2019, damaging the eatery’s metal grating.
Cesare Abbate/ANSA via AP

ROME (AP) — A popular Naples pizzeria is the latest target of bombings in the area which Italian authorities have linked to mobsters. A small blast outside Pizzeria Sorbillo in the city's historic center early Wednesday damaged the eatery's metal grating. 

The ANSA news agency said eight bombs have targeted Naples-area businesses in recent days. Last month, a pizzeria was bombed in the nearby town of Afragola. The attacks are under investigation. Chamber of Deputy President Roberto Fico, a Neapolitan, decried "vile" intimidation attacks by the Camorra, the Naples-area crime syndicate. 

Gino Sorbillo's pizzeria, which was torched five years ago, draws lines of residents and tourists. Extortion is a Camorra mainstay. Businesses refusing to pay "protection" money risk attacks. Italy's interior minister said there's state funding to hire 100 more Naples police officers. 


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