Maria Licciardi

Maria Licciardi (; born 24 March 1951) is an Italian criminal affiliated with the Camorra, head of the Licciardi clan, and one of the bosses of the Secondigliano Alliance. She was one of the most powerful bosses of the Camorra in the city of Naples from 1993 until her arrest in 2001. and earned the nickname La Piccolina ("The Little Girl") early on in her criminal career, due to her diminutive height. Among Camorra women she is known respectfully as La Principessa ("The Princess"), due to her good standing. Licciardi's husband, Antonio Teghemié was also in the Camorra.

Reign as boss Licciardi rose to power and took over as head of the clan after her two brothers, Pietro and Vincenzo, and her husband were arrested. She was the first female Camorrista to become the boss of the Licciardi clan and take over as head of the Secondigliano Alliance. The death of Gennaro Licciardi caused some disruption in the local underworld, as well as several bloody attempts to seize control, but the clan was kept in stable condition by Maria. She brought together a fragile informal coalition of twenty Camorra clans in order to expand control of the city's most lucrative rackets, from drugs and cigarette smuggling to protection and prostitution. She also played a key role in expanding the city's drug trade market. Under her leadership, the Secondigliano Alliance became more organized, secretive, sophisticated and consequently more powerful.

Bribing pentiti Maria Licciardi sought to control the possible effects of the testimonies of many pentiti in order to protect the clan. For instance, Italian police discovered that a few days after his escape from his protected location, pentito Constantino Saro met Licciardi in order to ask for money in return for retracting statements on the clan's activities. The Secondigliano Alliance was divided over this issue. Some wanted to pay him, while others wanted to pay him and then murder him and his family.

In January 1998, Maria Licciardi was stopped in a car with her sister, Assunta, and her sister-in-law with around 300 million lire, which the prosecutors believe was her purported payment to him. She refused to disclose as to what the money was for and she faded into obscurity immediately after lawyers secured her release.

The Lo Russo clan eventually split from the alliance, leading to disintegration and a bloody gang war, including the use of car bombs and bazooka attacks. Clans began fighting over turf, and attempted to destroy or take other clan's business. When four clan members were murdered in her stronghold of Secondigliano, Licciardi was forced to retaliate. She mobilised her footsoldiers for an all-out counterattack. The deadly gang wars resulted in nearly 120 deaths in Naples and the surrounding region. It was around this time that investigators became aware of Licciardi's existence.

When the senior prosecutor Luigi Bobbio began making successful prosecutions against her clan, Licciardi felt that he was getting closer to discovering her whereabouts. In January 2001, she bombed Bobbio's office building. The bombing was delivered as a warning to stop the investigation of her clan's activities and also to stop any further prosecution of her clan members. However, the bombing did not stop Bobbio from continuing his investigations. On the contrary, he was put under police protection and continued his prosecutions against the clan undeterred. Over 70 members of the Licciardi clan were arrested. They refused to cooperate with prosecutors and served their prison sentences. In 2009, Licciardi was released from prison after almost 8 years.

2021 arrest On 26 June 2019, Licciardi managed to escape from a huge anti-Camorra operation against the Secondigliano Alliance, becoming a fugitive.

On 12 July 2019, the Court of Naples annulled the preventive detention order against Licciardi, sharing the legal questions raised by her lawyer, Dario Vannetiello. Licciardi was considered a free woman, despite her known role as the head of the Secondigliano Alliance, one of the most powerful criminal organization in the Campania region.

She was arrested again at Rome's Ciampino airport by Carabinieri on the orders of Naples prosecutors, alleged to have been running extortion rackets as head of the Licciardi Camorra clan, on 7 August 2021 when attempting to travel to Spain.