A major European drug market operates next to the US Naples naval base

Evidence

The Camorra system (mafia members typically call their organization il sistema) and its clans have integrated themselves into nearly every part of the social, political, and economic life of Campania. The U.S. military is no exception. A short drive down the potholed road from Gricignano’s sibling base, the U.S. Navy facility at Naples International Airport, sits one of Europe’s largest open-air drug markets, dominated by the clans. To help describe Campania, Saviano turned to the words of a magazine for U.S. military personnel: “Imagine yourself in a Sergio Leone film. It’s like the Wild West. Somebody gives orders, there are shoot-outs and unwritten, yet unassailable laws. Don’t be alarmed … Nevertheless, leave the military compound only when necessary.” — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 322

Categorization

• XREF: Evidence that US bases physically nest in local criminal economies, feeding the book’s thesis about local harm.
• SEED: Potential research angle: mapping the geography of US base towns beside known criminal and conflict zones as a systemic pattern beyond Italy.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 322