However, various events led to tremendous urban decay inside this project and in the surrounding areas. It all started with the 1980 earthquake in Irpinia, which led many families, left homeless, to squat the flats inside the "Vele". Things were made worse by the total lack of police presence, resulting in a deep bundling of the Camorra inside the area, which now controls drug trafficking, illegal street racing, gangs, and fencing operations.