Italian mafia stops ambulances from using sirens because they disturb drug dealers

The Italian mafia has stopped ambulances from using sirens because they disturb 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.

An ambulance driver was threatened with his life by two mafia gang members on a motorbike at the weekend RT reports.

“Haven’t you understood you cannot use your siren here? Turn it off or we’ll shoot you,” they are said to have shouted at the driver.

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It's reported that there have been 300 similar incidents in Naples over the past three years, with this most recent example taking place in the city's Spanish quarter.

Manuel Ruggiero, a 42-year-old emergency doctor and community organiser, said: “We have already been ordered not to use sirens in other neighborhoods, including Sanita and Traiano, where the locally based ambulance turns on its siren only after it leaves the area."

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“The same ambulance involved in the incident on Saturday was kicked, and the crew pushed, when they were not in time to save a cardiac arrest patient,” he also said.

Ambulance drivers and their crews are now asking for police escorts to protect them from the mafia.

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