THE BLACK HAND FORUM

B. wrote: ↑Thu Jun 05, 2025 12:35 pm Is it saying Gerace was near the center-top of a Buffalo Family organizational chart or an organizational chart of the drug operation?

NickleCity wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 6:24 am

B. wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 8:51 pm Does anyone remember the name of the Sicilian restaurant owner in Buffalo who was indicted for selling cocaine and (I believe) messing around with a minor some years back? When I looked into him it seemed he was from Agrigento and his surname shows up in the Sicilian mafia there.

Also does anyone know who the guy is on the far left? He's an American who visited Montallegro with the Todaros, curious if he's a relative. There are other photos of them with who I presume to be Sicilian relatives.

B. was it Filippo Inglima. He has owned restaurants and has faced deportation to Italy for abuse of a 13 year old girl. I believe he was involved in the Amoia, Vacanti, Piccione, Gambino drug business and if I remember correctly worked at the Lovejoy Bar and Grill that was burned to the ground-but that could have been one of the Piccione’s.

antimafia wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 10:00 am

antimafia wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 6:22 am

AntComello wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 3:33 am Wonder who’s behind this one since there’s been a “truce” called between mafia and HA

Rob Barletta is another significant HA from the Project Hobart investigation who, so far, has had one attempt on his life when he was living in Toronto, and later on, after moving to Quebec, whose residences were respectively set on fire and shot at. He’s still in Quebec, where he’s believed to have become a member of the Hells in that province who is assisting the influential HA Martin Robert with increasing the Hells’ share of revenue from illegal gambling in Quebec (and probably elsewhere).

We don’t know yet whether Craig McIlquham is the latest casualty of a particular conflict in a particular territory. Burlington, where he was killed (as was Pat Musitano), is in Halton Region, but McIlquham’s ties to the Niagara region are important. We do know that he and Barletta continued to partner with ’ndranghetisti in the Greater Toronto Area after, IMHO, Vito Rizzuto lost overall authority over the Platinum Sportsbook, which is exclusively illegal Internet gambling. Rizzuto, the Figliomenis, and the HAs were all partners when Platinum was born.

Excerpts below from an older article are relevant in this discussion. NB: OPP=Ontario Provincial Police.

Thursday, December 19, 2019
By Louie Rosella | InsideHalton.com
Hells Angels member from Oakville among 7 Halton residents charged in illegal gaming operation tied to ‘an escalation in violence across Ontario’
OPP focus was on an illegal gaming organization controlled by members of the Hell’s Angels
https://www.insidehalton.com/news/crime ... 000af.html

Nearly 30 people are facing more than 200 criminal charges in connection with a multi-million dollar illegal gaming operation tied to a series of attempted murders, arsons, extortion threats, shootings and assaults.

One of those charged, 49-year-old Oakville resident Craig McIlquham, is a member of the notorious Hells Angels motorcycle gang, the OPP said in a release.

OPP launched Project Hobart as a result of “an escalation of violence across Ontario and Quebec” between August 2017 and May 2018 which included attempted murders, arsons, extortion threats, shootings and assaults.

[snip]

Their focus was on an illegal gaming organization controlled by members of the Hell’s Angels outlaw motorcycle gang.

[snip]

The investigation suggests the sportsbooks have been in operation for more than five years and have brought in gross revenues of more that [sic] $131 million, police said.

Police linked the operators of this illegal gaming organization to the Figliomeni crime family.

antimafia wrote: ↑Thu Mar 06, 2025 1:03 pm

antimafia wrote: ↑Thu Oct 03, 2024 3:03 pm

antimafia wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2023 8:53 am

Cheech wrote: ↑Fri Sep 01, 2023 3:50 am This has become a true crime thread. When mafia?

In my opinion, when we learn which organized-crime group or which member of organized crime might have been responsible for hiring

1. alleged MS-13 members to kill someone in a sleepy village located about a 30 min. drive from Toronto's northwest boundary

2. one of these alleged MS-13 members to allegedly kill Francesco Del Balso in Laval, Quebec

3. up to four (4) men from Ontario to kill Moreno Gallo's daughter-in-law in Montreal, a woman who has ancestry from the Rizzutos' hometown in Sicily

When we learn why Davide Barberio of Quebec has criminal matters in Ontario that are being heard in the same Newmarket courthouse where the matters for the alleged MS-13 members are being heard, we might also have an idea whether and how the Italian underworld in one or both provinces is involved.

The trial for some of the seven individuals accused of involvement in the mistaken-idenity drive-by shooting in the Greater Toronto Area will commence in about 12 months' time. The timeline for the trial scheduling has to do with the Jordan decision deadline.

One of the seven accused, Carlos Pena Torrez, continues to make court appearances in Laval for his mistaken-idenity drive-by shooting there, where the alleged real target was Francesco Del Balso.

A hat tip to OcSleeper for letting me know about the sentencing of Carlos Pena Torrez this past Monday. Here's a link to the Toronto Star's PressReader version of the article:

https://www.pressreader.com/article/281479282173516

The authorities in Quebec wasted no time -- Pena Torrez has his two criminal matters being heard today in the Laval Courthouse in Quebec.

B. wrote: ↑Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:58 pm NC -- Have you been able to confirm Richie Todaro Jr.'s membership and his relation, if any, to the other Todaros? He was high-placed in the family's bookmaking operations and was carried as a suspected member into the early 1970s.

NickleCity wrote: ↑Mon Jan 13, 2025 6:31 pm Frank Tripi DTO
Alleged by HSI Agent Curtis Ryan to be connected to IOC in Buffalo during Bongiovanni trial 1



Here is a link to the chart I've been putting together on Little Sis: https://littlesis.org/oligrapher/10333-frank-tripi-dto

Frank Tripi DTO
-Frank was the primary target of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force’s (OCDETF) Operation Past Due
-The DTO is alleged to have an international component in Canada
-The investigation involved multiple states including California and Nevada
-Local Law Enforcement included offices from the ATF, DEA, IRS, state and local agencies including the Niagara Falls Police Department
-The Tripi DTO is alleged to have trafficked cocaine, marijuana, and heroin while laundering money via bulk cash movement by air, wire transfer, business fronts, casinos, and property investments (real estate).
-Alleged to be connected to Italian Organized Crime in Buffalo by SA Curtis Ryan.

Origin of Operation Past Due
Niagara Falls Police, NFPD, narcotics detectives contacted the Buffalo DEA task force regarding drug activity involving a collection agency, Direct Mediators, located at 1615 Pine Avenue, Niagara Falls, New York. NFPD narcotics detectives interviewed an employee that quit after one week of employment at the collection agency that remained anonymous. He/she observed illegal activity such as cocaine, heroin, prescription drugs, and marijuana being sold out of the collection agency. He/she stated that Frank Tripi, the owner of the agency, stayed in the back office which was off limits to the employees.

Scope of Frank Tripi DTO
The geographic scope of this organization has currently been identified as being Santa Cruz, California and the Western New York area, specifically Niagara Falls, New York, and Buffalo, New York.

The total number of participants in this organization has yet to be fully identified. However, it is believed that the organization consists of at least eleven identified members, and likely many more who have yet to be identified.

It is believed that this organization is currently engaged in the distribution of cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and various prescription drugs. It is currently believed, based on confidential source information, that this organization is distributing in excess of at least 2 kilograms of cocaine and multiple ounce quantities of heroin, multiple pounds of marijuana, and unknown quantities of prescription drugs per month in the Western New York area.

Tripi is obtaining his heroin from Ohio and driving it back to the Western New York area in vehicles with hidden compartments. Tripi himself is also involved with the coordination of trafficking of cocaine, marijuana, and prescription drugs. It is unknown at the present time how the cocaine and prescription drugs are delivered to Tripi.


Goals of Operation Past Due
The overall goals of this investigation are to identify the totality of this drug-trafficking organization, including but not limited to the commanding and control elements, smuggling routes and methods, distribution networks, methods utilized to avoid apprehension by law enforcement, and money laundering methods.

The Mark and Sam Zito Family
In 2021 Sam Zito and 2 others were convicted of smuggling over 600 pounds marijuana from Canada. See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... 5f0df.html

Sam and Mark Zito are brothers. See: https://www.mjcoluccifuneralchapel.com/obituary/477340

Their father Mark, a laborer at Local 91, was involved with shady stuff in The Falls. He was alleged to be involved in a fee splitting scheme while on the School Board. See: https://buffalonews.com/news/zito-is-ar ... 2c047.html And he was alleged to be involved in a travel scandal while on the board: https://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/lo ... dd170.html

Additionally Mark Zito Sr. started the Niagara Power Coalition, but was accused of using his position with that organization for his personal gain. See: https://www.niagara-gazette.com/lawyers ... ed1a2.html For payments to son Mark and Fiancé see also: https://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/lo ... c9e81.html

Snip...

antimafia wrote: ↑Sun May 11, 2025 3:58 pm

antimafia wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 6:27 am A legitimate paywall-free version of Peter Edwards’s article on the murder of Hells Angel Craig McIlquham is available at the link below.

Long­time Hells Angel gunned down out­side Bur­l­ing­ton res­taur­ant

https://pressreader.com/article/281599541374732

Peter Edwards has written another article about this topic:

‘Brazen’ killing at Mandarin restaurant near Toronto shines light on Hells Angels’ changing business model
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/brazen ... a0955.html

Toronto Star's paywall-free version:

https://pressreader.com/article/281625311194961