Illegal fireworks haul
Naples police start cracking down
21 December, 18:21
(ANSA) - Salerno, November 21 - Police on Monday seized five tonnes of illegal fireworks near Naples as an annual crackdown ahead of the New Year gathered pace.
Police found the fireworks - described as "full-blown bombs" - in two basements north of Salerno and cited two people.
"They built up powder kegs underneath apartment blocks with unsuspecting families in them," police said.
The apartments had to be evacuated for fear of explosion before the police moved in. Police said they had seized "tens of thousands" of fireworks, most of them made in China.
"They were ready to go on the black market at astronomical prices".
Preventive action by police against illegal fireworks will continue until the end of the year, when the traditional New Year's fireworks mayhem regularly results in burns and mutilations.
Naples is usually the worst-hit city, recording the highest number of injuries.
'NO SEX IF YOU USE FIREWORKS'.
Women in Naples got so fed up with their menfolk last year that they launched a 'no sex if you let off fireworks' drive.
The operation had some success as the number of injuries dropped by about 100 to 382.
It is not yet known whether the women will stage a repeat protest.
But one person was killed by a stray bullet - the second year running that someone was accidentally shot dead on New Year's Eve.
Campania was the worst-hit region again last year.
Many of the illegal fireworks sold in Italy are actually rudimentary bombs.
A mortar is on the black market that packs a one-kg punch and can cause serious damage to persons and things within a broad radius, police say.
Local youths have delighted in giving heavy-duty fireworks scary or jokey names like The Bin Laden, The Maradona Bomb, Desert Storm, Red October and Turbo 3.
Police confiscated 294 tonnes of illegal fireworks across the country in the months running up to last year's celebrations, a 78% increase on the haul for the previous year.
