Giuseppe Puca

Who was Giuseppe Puca?

Giuseppe Puca was an Italian Camorrista, and the right hand of Raffaele Cutolo, boss of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata. He was known among criminal circles as "'o Giappone", due to his Japanese looks.

During his youth, Puca showed a talent that did not pass unnoticed by Cutolo, who recruited him as among the NCO's first members in the Poggioreale prison. The others were Antonino Cuomo aka "'o Maranghiello", Pasquale Barra aka "'o Nimale", Pasquale D'Amico aka "'o Cartunaro" and Vincenzo Casillo aka "'o Nirone".

Thus, began his ascent to success. He soon became the capozona of Sant'Antimo. He was suspected and accused of several murders, the principal or not, extortion and Camorra association. He was also suspected of having Cutolo escape criminal from mental hospital of Aversa, making the jump to the wall of dynamite. Puca was a primary suspect in the murder of Vincenzo Casillo, Cutolo's deputy and main 'military' chief at the order of Cutolo himself. This accusation, however, has never been confirmed nor proven. After Casillo's death, Puca replaced him as Cutolo's new second-in-command, but was later arrested and brought to trial in the famous 1983 maxi-trials against the NCO.