NAPLES — Authorities in Italy said they discovered $3.6 million hidden in the walls, furniture and floors of an apartment in Naples during a Monday raid that resulted in 34 arrests.
Law enforcement officials found the cash -- €3.2 million euros -- stacked in bundles of 50-euro notes in Caivano, a comune located within the Naples metropolitan area, CNN reported, citing a statement from the Naples Carabinieri military police.
The raid was part of a months-long sting operation led by Neapolitan prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, according to the cable news outlet. Gratteri said that authorities had wiretapped the cellphones of incarcerated members of organized crime in prison that had been smuggled in by relatives.
“To demonstrate the importance of the operation, in just one home, we seized €3.2 million in cash, as well as valuable watches,” Gratteri told reporters in Naples.
The cash was carried out in plastic mop buckets, CNN reported.
During a news conference, officials said police also confiscated 11 luxury Rolex watches, along with weapons and drug-selling paraphernalia.
The suspects arrested are allegedly part of the Angelino family, CNN reported. The crime family had infiltrated Caivano so thoroughly that the comune’s local government was placed under judicial administration in 2025, Gratteri told the cable news outlet.
The 34 suspects are accused of association with organized crime, drug trafficking, extortion and possession of drugs for the purpose of selling them, the Carabinieri said in a statement.
The cash that was confiscated will go to Italy’s “Justice Fund,” CNN reported. The fund supports victims of organized crime.
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