Fausto Lamparelli, newly installed as Naples police chief, or questore, has warned of emerging new generations of very young and dangerous members within organized crime. The warning, reported by Metropolis Web, places prevention, territorial control and cooperation among institutions alongside enforcement in the response to juvenile crime.

Lamparelli said the fight against juvenile criminality cannot rely on repression alone. He called for prevention, control of the territory and a presence in schools, while urging against generalizations about young people and stressing the need to identify and support those who can be brought back from criminal paths.

A return to Naples

Lamparelli's appointment marks a return to Naples. He previously led the Naples Squadra Mobile, the flying squad, from 2014 to 2017, a period during which he also dealt with youth criminal groups, including investigations connected to the so-called "paranza dei bambini."

That background is relevant to his current remarks. His earlier work in Naples involved cases concerning youth groups engaged in criminal activity, and his statements on taking office connect that experience to the present concern about new young recruits.

What the available reporting does not provide is a detailed breakdown of these new recruits. The sources do not offer updated quantitative data on their age, number or territorial distribution, and the Metropolis Web report does not precisely identify the clans active in the southern area of the province of Naples. No independent institutional transcript or audiovisual record of Lamparelli's remarks on the day he took office was available among the documents acquired for this article.

What recent police operations illustrate

The structure that such young recruits risk entering is illustrated by an operation documented by the Naples Questura. In that case, police reported the arrest of 60 people believed to belong to two Camorra families, on charges including mafia-type association, drug trafficking, extortion and possession of weapons.

According to the Questura account, officers seized weapons, explosives, ammunition, drugs and accounting records linked to criminal activity.

That operation reflects investigations dating to 2021 and 2022. It therefore describes the established type of clan organization and alleged activity documented by police, rather than by itself proving the evolution described in 2026. It remains useful context for readers because it shows the charges and seized materials police associate with family-based Camorra groups: organized association, drug dealing, extortion, weapons and financial documentation.

Prevention alongside enforcement

The second point of context is Lamparelli's stated approach: enforcement paired with prevention.

In the reported remarks, he linked three elements:

  • prevention work, including a presence in schools;
  • control of the territory;
  • cooperation among institutions.

He also made a distinction among young people involved in or at risk of crime, arguing that recoverable youths should be identified and supported rather than treated as a single undifferentiated group.

For readers, that framing matters because it separates two different questions often conflated in coverage of juvenile crime: how police suppress current offenses, and how institutions try to reduce recruitment. The Questura operation belongs to the first category. The calls for territorial presence, presence in schools and inter-institutional cooperation belong to the second.