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'The Godmother': Italian police arrest female mafia boss

August 7, 2021

Maria Licciardi, once one of Italy's most-wanted criminals, was stopped by officers as she prepared to fly to Spain from Rome's Ciampino airport. Police believe she effectively was running an influential Camorra clan.

https://p.dw.com/p/3ygFF
Maria Liccardi, seen here in these police handout photos, is one of the most influential Camorra crime bosses.
Maria Licciardi is accused of mafia-type association, extortion, receiving ill-gotten funds and auction rigging. Image: picture-alliance/dpa

A top female mafia boss, known as 'The Godmother' to her associates, has been arrested by Italian police as she attempted to leave the country for Spain.

Officers arrested 70-year-old Maria Licciardi at Rome's Ciampino airport as she checked in her bags early on Saturday morning before her flight to Malaga where her daughter lives.

Her arrest comes as Spanish police picked up a notorious ‘Ndrangheta mafia ringleader on Thursday after two years on the run.

What are Italian police saying?

She is accused of a series of offences, the Italian newspaper La Stampa reported, including mafia-type association, extortion, receiving ill-gotten funds and auction rigging. 

Licciardi, dubbed "la piccoletta" or the little one because of her small stature, is a member of the Camorra family clan founded by her late brother, Gennaro Licciardi, who died in prison in 1994.

The ANSA news agency said Licciardi is also known as La Madrina, or the Godmother, to those close to her.

Naples' anti-mafia unit believes that she has effectively been running the organization, which is based in the suburbs of Scampia and Secondigliano.

Italy: Camorra mafia appeals to youths

They also allege that she is a top figure in a drug trafficking, money laundering and extortion cartel that has links with several other Camorra clans.

What about Licciardi's past?

Officers arrested Licciardi in June 2001, which saw her go to jail for eight years for a series of mafia-related offences.

Licciardi had been on the run since 1999 and at the time figured on the list of Italy's top-30 wanted criminals.

It is after her release in December 2009 that she is accused of taking over the leadership of her family's clan.

Police in Naples launched a crackdown on the mafia in June 2019, arresting more than 120 clan members and confiscating cash and assets worth €130 million.

The wives of several other Camorra clans were also taken into custody, but Licciardi managed to escape arrest during the operation.

Marco Di Lauro sits in the back of a police vehicle after his arrest two years ago.
Another Camorra boss, Marco Di Lauro, was arrested in March 2019.Image: picture-alliance/S. Laporta

In March 2019, authorities tracked down Italian mafia “super fugitive”, Marco Di Lauro, after 14 years on the run.

Di Lauro, who had been subject to an international arrest warrant since 2006, was found eating pasta with his wife at an apartment in the Chiaiano district of Naples.

jf/csb (AFP, ANSA)