The Camorra (Italian: [kaˈmɔrra]; Neapolitan: [kaˈmorrə]) is an Italian Mafia-type criminal organization and criminal society originating in the region of Campania. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century. The Camorra's organizational structure is divided into individual groups called "clans". Every capo or "boss" is the head of a clan, in which there may be tens or hundreds of affiliates, depending on the clan's power and structure. The Camorra's main businesses are drug trafficking, racketeering, counterfeiting, and money laundering. It is also not unusual for Camorra clans to infiltrate the politics of their respective areas.

Since the early 1980s and its involvement in the drug trafficking business, the Camorra has acquired a strong presence in other European countries, particularly Spain. Usually, Camorra clans maintain close contact with South American drug cartels, which facilitates the arrival of drugs in Europe.

According to Naples public prosecutor Giovanni Melillo, during a 2023 speech of the Antimafia Commission, the most powerful groups of the Camorra in the present day are the Mazzarella clan and the Secondigliano Alliance. The latter is an alliance of the Licciardi, Contini and Mallardo clans.

The most accepted hypothesis is that the term "Camorra" was born directly in Campania, around the 16th-17th century, finding its original etymological root in the same expression in Neapolitan and being formed from the junction of the words c' 'a-morra (with the morra), in reference to the homonymous street game. The first official use of camorra as a word dates from 1735, when a royal decree authorised the establishment of eight gambling houses in Naples. By virtue of the historical information confirmed, it is widely agreed that the birth of the Neapolitan Camorra, intended as a secret criminal organization, in the form in which it is known today, was created around the 18th century.

The ancestors of the Camorra existed in Campania, in particular in Naples, in the centuries preceding it and were called "compagniani" who moved in groups of four and lived off prostitutes, controlling gambling and committing robberies. In every Neapolitan neighborhood there was a group of compagniani of which some nobleman was also a member. Their meeting place was the "del Crispano" tavern, near the current Napoli Centrale station. Even the canon Giulio Genoino, the inspirer of Masaniello's revolt, was protected by compagniani. There were also the "cappiatori", street thieves, and the "campeatori", robbers with knives. At the end of the 17th century in Naples there were 1338 hanged, 17 executed leaders, 57 beheaded, 913 condemned to prison. During those centuries, some of the most famous "compagniani" were Fucillo Micone in the 16th century and Cesare Riccardi, called "abate Cesare", in the 17th century, both heads of groups of compagniani.

The Camorra, known in that period as Bella Società Riformata, emerged during the chaotic power vacuum between 1799 and 1815, when the Parthenopean Republic was proclaimed on the wave of the French Revolution and the Bourbon Restoration. The first official mention of the Camorra as an organisation dates from 1820, when police records detail a disciplinary meeting of the Camorra, a tribunal known as the Gran Mamma. That year the first written statute of the Camorra, the frieno, was discovered, indicating a stable organisational structure in the underworld. Another statute was discovered in 1842, related to initiation rites and funds set aside for the families of those imprisoned.

The Camorristi in that period also defined their organization as "Società della Umirtà" or "Annurata Suggità" ("Honoured Society") to allude to the defense of their "honour", which consisted of omertà (Umirtà), that is, the criminal code of silence and the obligation not to speak about the internal affairs of the organization with the police.

The evolution into more organised formations indicated a qualitative change: the Camorra and camorristi were no longer local gangs living off theft and extortion; they had a fixed structure and some kind of hierarchy. Another qualitative leap was the agreement between the liberal opposition and the Camorra, following the defeat of the 1848 revolution. The liberals realised that they needed popular support to overthrow the king. They turned to the Camorra and paid them because the camorristi were the leaders of the city's poor. The new police chief, Liborio Romano, appealed to the head of the Camorra, Salvatore De Crescenzo, to maintain order and appointed him as head of the municipal guard. In a few decades, the Camorra had developed into power brokers. In 1869, Ciccio Cappuccio was elected as the capintesta (head-in-chief) of the Camorra by the twelve district heads (capintriti), succeeding De Crescenzo after a short interregnum. Nicknamed "The king of Naples" ("o rre 'e Napole"), he died in 1892.