Naples Police Asking: Is Mafia Tuned In?

Police have shut down two small private television stations here on suspicion they may have been transmitting coded messages to the Mafia.

A police spokesman said Saturday that the owners of Televideo Napoli and Tele Centro Storico have been charged with running public bingo and lottery games without official authorization.

The games were broadcast nightly into the city’s Spanish quarter but were frequently interrupted by bizarre messages such as “beware of the white shoes” and “the boats have arrived.”

Police said they have so far been unable to establish whether the messages were simply the result of interference on the airwaves or whether they were coded signals to members of the Camorra, the Naples version of the Mafia, who are serving jail terms or on the run from police.