In a rather interesting turn of events, Italian mafia has ordered ambulance drivers in Naples to stop using their sirens and flashing lights because they confuse drug-dealers.
Mafia in the southern city of Naples have been targeting ambulance crews because the sirens and lights from the vehicles can be mistaken for that of police cars. The sirens are similar to that of the police units, thus scaring off dealers from completing their transactions.
In one reported incident, two gang members stopped an ambulance and threatened to kill the driver for putting the siren on. It’s reported that there have been 300 similar incidents in Naples over the past three years.
Local clans are said to dislike the blaring sirens and ambulance lights as they can disturb drug-pushers who mistake them for the arrival of police cars, interrupting their business and scaring off customers.
Amid a slew of similar reports across the city, ambulance drivers and accompanying first responders are demanding police escorts to protect them from intensifying harassment, violence and intimidation.
Ambulance crews have also been assaulted by relatives of patients after they arrived on the scene too late to save them. Alessandro Amitrano, a local MP, urged the government to consider the fight against the clans from Naples’s mafia Camorra as a national priority. He also called for extra protection for the ambulance drivers against the gang members who believe they are above the law.
