Mafia elders infuriated by young gang members using TikTok to flaunt lavish lifestyles

Crescenzo Marino, the son of a Camorra boss, boasts more than 43,000 followers on the platform.

The Neapolitan, who himself has been investigated for Mafia membership, has also amassed more than 900,000 likes on his short video clips.

Videos posted to the app show the gangster’s son partying, driving expensive cars and shopping for luxury goods.

Marcello Ravveduto, a Professor of Modern History at the University of Salerno and an expert on mafia communication told The Times: “For the first time these gangsters have found a direct way to speak up about their lives.

“The Camorra has the youngest members of Italy’s mafias and they love TikTok because it’s so quick and has less rules than other platforms,” he added.

Long gone are the days of hiding in the shadows for one of the world’s oldest criminal organisations.

“Now that it has discovered TikTok the Camorra wants to show that it is up there with the glamorous elite.”

According to The Times, Antonio Abbinante, a Mafia boss in the Scampia neighbourhood, was overheard by officers blaming a young affiliate of the gang for provoking increased police pressure on the gang by using the social media site to boast about their power.

“I get really furious about this,” Abbinate reportedly said, adding: “I am going to split open the head of whoever did this.”

Camorra clans have also used TikTok to make videos about their vendettas.

Following the murder of a man linked to the Carillo-Perfetto clan, a TikTok message warned police: “We are giving you a week to arrest them or we will raise hell against them.”

“The Camorra has followed the Mexican Narcos, who are keen users of TikTok, while gypsy criminals in Rome are also using it,” Ravveduto added.

Irish gang members affiliated with Mr Flashy’s Gucci Gang, and his rival faction, have also been using the platform.

Sick threats have appeared on the app threatening to firebomb the family homes of associates of slain criminal James ‘Whela’ Whelan.

Dad-of-one Whelan (29) who had previously been involved with the North Dublin crime boss, Mr Flashy, was brutally murdered in April.

He was shot dead in the Deanstown Avenue area in the early hours of April 3 on the orders of Mr Flashy, a Kinahan cartel-linked criminal, as part of an escalating local drugs feud.

The video showed a montage of pictures of some of the burned-out properties alongside images of Whelan.

The short clip comes with further threatening warnings stating: “Some job what, that’s what happens to rats' gaffs 6ft under and gaff blazed double whammy."

It adds: “That goes out to all yous rat bags down in Kippure, same job be happening to yous are gafs (sic)."