NAPLES, Italy - If you've enjoyed a visit to the beautiful Italian island of Capri in the last decade, what you probably didn't realize is that about 30 miles away in Naples there is a quite different world to be discovered - one where luxury is simply a hot meal or a clean bed to sleep in.

Police at a protest against the killing of six immigrants near Naples.

This week we traveled to the towns of Castel Volturno, Caserta and Casal di Principe, north of Naples, the stronghold of a very powerful mafia clan which has recently gone on a killing spree that left, among others, six African immigrants dead.

This was a clear message, according to investigators, to those who try to trespass on the territory and business interests of the mafia: Racketeering, drug trafficking and prostitution. In this case the recipients were the illegal immigrants in the area who account for one quarter of the local population and form a fertile open air recruitment agency for illegal activity of all kinds.

The coastline of this area has the potential to be a fabulous beach resort, but as you drive down its main street, called the Domitiana, it's easy to see something has gone terribly wrong.

The street is banked by broken and dusty sidewalks. Garbage is scattered or piled up around smelly garbage bins - the leftovers of a garbage crisis that gripped Naples earlier this year and still appears to be a problem.

Once quaint hotels have become rundown shacks with walled-in ground floor doors and windows. They are now hangouts for local drug addicts and greedy pushers. At one, a pool in the back was filled with garbage. According to one immigrant we spoke to, it was also filled with syringes.

The lack of people walking around is evident, it's a bit like the old Western movies when there is a shootout about to happen. Every so often an African immigrant can be seen walking through the area, but otherwise, there are no signs of normality.

The Italian government has decided to send 400 extra police personnel and 500 soldiers to the area. The result is the presence of road blocks every few kilometers, with policemen or Carabinieri (the military police) armed to the teeth. Watch our report here

When, after a long day of work we were about to leave the hotel for dinner in a nearby restaurant, the hotel clerk offered his two cents. With a big smile on his face and the typical Neapolitan fun-loving attitude, he suggested we accept a ride from the hotel security car. Both there and back.

All this, just 30 miles from Capri.