Bombs in eastern Rome. Gualtieri is alarmed, the police are investigating, and a march is planned for tomorrow.

The event is scheduled for tomorrow evening at 6 pm in Piazza Don Bosco, where a public demonstration organised by neighbourhood associations and committees will take place against crime in the eastern part of the capital. Over the last forty days, this area has been the scene of around ten explosions in the city, all occurring at night, with firecrackers set off outside shops, bars, homes and cars. Without exaggeration, one could say that a part of the city seems to have become like Beirut, with firecracker bombs laying waste to entire neighbourhoods and terrifying residents. This is a new modus operandi, about which, however, little is yet known. For now, investigators have identified the same modus operandi in just three explosions, with devices constructed in the same way. “Ma bomba o non bomba, arriveremo a Roma…”, sang Antonello Venditti.

There are already bombs in Rome, but only now is the city beginning to take notice. Until now, reports of the explosions had been relegated to brief articles, and it is only in the last few days that they have made more prominent headlines, prompting Roberto Gualtieri to speak out. “I have spoken with Prefect Lamberto Giannini, who is monitoring the situation with the utmost commitment. The circumstances appear to be of a criminal nature, particularly in light of some recent successes in the fight against organised crime,” explained the mayor. The latest blast occurred three nights ago in San Basilio, on Via Filottrano, where a device exploded in front of the entrance to a block of flats, causing residents to rush out onto the street. On Sunday evening, meanwhile, a device was thrown at a slot machine parlour in the Alessandrino neighbourhood, run by a 52-year-old man with a history of drug offences. In recent days, a wine shop in the Don Bosco area was also destroyed. Among other incidents, a bomb was thrown at Costantino Rent Cars, a car hire business in Borghesiana run by the Costantino brothers, who in 2021 had escaped an ambush organised by Giuseppe Molisso and Raoul Calderon, two well-known figures in the Roman underworld. In August, meanwhile, two firecracker bombs destroyed Manuel Sammarco’s Travis Car, a well-known drug dealer in Quarticciolo, whilst another four exploded in the Torre Maura, Tor Bella Monaca and Tuscolano areas.

It is therefore the eastern part of the city that has been affected, including San Basilio, now considered one of the largest drug-dealing hotspots in Europe. While some have suggested a gang war or even threats from Michele Senese – currently in prison serving a life sentence – on closer inspection the incidents appear to be unrelated, although investigators do not rule out the possibility that a single group may be operating to gain control of the territory. “In recent years, Roman journalists have taken a liking to portraying the city as if it were the province of Naples, Palermo or Trapani – divided into zones dominated by different clans waging war against one another, with dire consequences for anyone who strays into enemy territory. But it has never been like that in Rome, nor is it now. The Roman underworld is divided into small clans or ‘batterie’ that form and break up according to the circumstances of the moment; there are no organisations with such extensive networks,” observes Massimo Lugli, a renowned crime reporter and writer, formerly of *La Repubblica*. “These firecrackers make me think more of cases of loan sharking or acts of retaliation and warnings between drug dealers; I’d be cautious about viewing them as a gang war over territorial control…”, adds Lugli.

Regarding the incidents in the Don Bosco area (in August 2015, Vittorio Casamonica’s funeral procession took place in front of the basilica, complete with a horse-drawn carriage to the tune of "The Godfather"), a parliamentary question has been tabled by the Roman Democratic Party MP Roberto Morassut, calling for Minister Piantedosi to intervene. The incidents cited include a Molotov cocktail thrown in April at an ultras supporters’ club, a firecracker bomb on 12 July targeting a building, another explosive device on 3 August outside a block of flats, and the firecracker bomb on 4 October targeting the wine shop in Via Calpurnio Fiamma. “A disturbing series of explosions – we must get to the bottom of this,” say the local representatives of Italia Viva, announcing their participation in tomorrow’s demonstration in Piazza San Giovanni Bosco. In short, a part of the city is exploding and, at last, someone is beginning to take notice.