Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

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B.
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

Post by B. »

Speaking of protection, this ties into the bit about Todaro and Iavarone...

Todaro was "mad" about Iavarone as of June 30, 2017.

Iavarone was murdered 14.5 months later.

- Frank Balistrieri was recorded discussing the same type of protocol violation with his consiglio in the 1960s when Bonanno soldier Peter Sciortino, who shared a Sicilian hometown with most of the Milwaukee family and had strong ties there, visited Milwaukee and met with local Milwaukee figures without Balistrieri's approval. The transcript reveals that Balistrieri was violently angry and sincerely wanted to kill Sciortino over this affront to his leadership, with his consiglio attempting to talk him out of the murder.

- Similarly, Todaro was said to be "mad" about the same affront to his own leadership. How mad? Is it a coincidence that Iavarone was murdered such a short time later? Could be, but it might not be entirely unrelated either. If some other "third party" wanted to kill Iavarone, it's possible Todaro and the Buffalo-Ontario faction communicated that they would not protect Iavarone given his violation of a time-honored rule. Or they may not have needed to communicate it -- it still stood that Iavarone had no protection from the local group.

- One of the presumed reasons for the mafia rule about a member getting approval to visit/stay/live in the area of another boss is not simply for the boss's ego, but because the local boss provides protection to the outside member. When this rule is violated, it is an affront to the local boss and it also leaves the outside member vulnerable. There is no question that Iavarone was vulnerable given what happened to him.

- Would Joe Todaro Jr. be so upset about a mafia rule being broken that he would directly order the murder of a Cosa Nostra member in Canada? Seems crazy, but I don't know him. We know from the Violi tapes that he took mafia rules seriously enough that he contacted NYC to make sure the NYC leadership approved the promotion of a Canadian underboss. He seems to be someone who cares about the nuances of mafia protocol even when he doesn't have to, as evidenced by his consultation with NYC over the geographic location of an underboss. How would he feel if another family in turn didn't show him the same courtesy in his territory? Would he have someone killed? Again, I can't answer that.

Point being, the Iavarone murder is unsolved. We have a piece of info that suggests a mafia boss was angry about the murder victim a little over a year before the murder. If this was any other organization or during any other era and we found out that a mafia boss was angry with someone before that man's murder, we would consider the mafia boss a suspect in the conspiracy. It might be a coincidence, but we must consider this possibility given the unsolved nature of the case.

Again, if nothing else, Todaro's anger over this protocol violation would mean Iavarone, as a made member of another family, did not have protection from the local mafia family at the time of his death. Protocol isn't just there to kiss the boss's ass, but to give the member protection and resources from the local group if he needs them.
CabriniGreen wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 1:27 am @ antimafia

When you posted " Ontario crime group representing Montreal"... I'm admittedly lost here.... whom were you referring to? The Violis?
I think he meant Ontario-based members or associates of the Montreal crew. The Magaddino tapes discuss there being Bonanno members in Ontario by 1964, a 1971 report mentions an Ontario-based Bonanno faction, and we know the Rizzutos had associates if not members there in the 1980s-2000s. He may have also meant allies from another organization, as the Musitanos and others are suspected of having an alliance with Montreal at one point.
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

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CabriniGreen wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 1:02 am Ok..... NOW were getting to it.....

• On Ursino being a Commisso man.....
Did you see the article, that said Antonio Ursino angered Guiseppe Commisso by granting ( was it Guiseppe Ursino?) A dote, without permission, or consultation? And sending him to Toronto to sit on the Camera Di Controllo?Did he remain Commissos man? I read after the Ursino-Gambino op fell apart, the Commisso- Figliomeni expelled all the non Siderno gangsters, and it TRULY became the Siderno group...


• on antimafia 1st hypothesis on the war....
This was what Daniel Renaud was alluding to in his Rizzuto book. That the Violis were involved with Montagna in the war.

I've been trying to figure the Violis angle in the war up there. The Scoppa book didnt mention the kids once.
Plus they wernt made at that time, so I was a little baffled as to WHY Montagna would meet with them on an organizational matter. Maybe it was an OPERATIONAL matter, maybe he wanted to do something similar to what Zummo wanted. All those Montreal guys were pretty heavy in narcotics, a relationship with the Violis would have shored up those contacts for Montagna.....
He would have been able to navigate the narcotics Table set up by guys like Skunk Giordano from a position of strength and control......

• Its quite telling, that the Luppinos may have been dragged into an Ndrangheta war..... antimafia previously posted that being a member of LCN didnt make Montagna exempt from being a target for murder. But one has to wonder, were the Violis, Natale, the attempt at making Cece, were they straightened out as a means of protection? To keep them safe from reprisals?
In Siderno the clans from Siderno and those from Marina di Gioiosa Ionica don't really get along - Commisso vs Ursino/Aquino. That a Ursino was granted a dote without the go from Commisso in Siderno might show the resurgence of that conflict. In fact, this is the issue - Ursino was supposed to represent the Sidernesi (which in Canada includes both Siderno and Marina di Gioiosa Ionica) and - a theory - this might have been ok with the Commisso in GTA (Francesco u sceltu and Rocco Remo). That Giuseppe Commisso u mastru in Siderno was angered by it might indeed have given way to the 'war'. This is in fact the theory of operation Falsa Politica 2012 and Operation Acero, 2015 that say that there is an internal war across the Siderno clans in GTA (Commisso fro Siderno and Figliomeni on one side - true Siderno as you say - and Commisso Fromm GTA and Ursinos from Marina di Gioiosa on the other for example).

As I said before, the Luppino family ties with the Macrì - allied with Commisso in Siderno - might have created some short circuit of expectation there....plus obviously everyone is around to make money so really it's about ending the war, winning the war and getting on with your business.
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

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“ Tony was charged with possession of THC (cannabis) for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime in March 2018. However, those charges and others were stayed that August.”

So he is charged in March 2018 but doesn’t do anytime time, his brother is killed in September 2018, the Violis are sentence December 2018, as well as attending Martin Roberts’ wedding December 2018.

Iavarone, similar to both Saverio Serrano and Antonio Segri, has an interesting in Legal marijuana?
Segri was looking to use a Hells Angel bar in Hamilton to convert it into a grow op in Hamilton, prior to being killed in between the attempted murder of Serrano and murder of Angelo Musitano.

https://nationalpost.com/news/toronto/t ... ized-crime

In the Serrano and Musitano shootings, it’s the same group from Hamilton that targeted them both, were the Musitanos into legal weed as well?
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

Post by SantoClaus »

There has been multiple examples of people in Hamilton that have been charged in various drug network arrests in and around the war in Ontario, interestingly the trend is that all of them seem to avoid jail time and are back on the streets as if nothing happens.

The only reason that logically makes sense IMO is that they are working with the police/state, has anyone found anything else that would add to that?

Isn't there a cop on here from Hamilton that can help add or subtract from this observation?

Reason I ask, is that from my research it feels as if this network is responsible for the murder of Carmen Verducci, as a way to destabilize the province, Verducci had a presence in Hamilton?
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

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I know first hand that Ontario HA President Joe Ertel is definitely tied into the police/state and that from one of his closest friends, that he is also involved in the Legal Weed business. Also, from the same person, he is close with another man named Ross Bommarito from Hamilton, they apparently ride motorcycles together.

Ross is Sicilian, has an interesting past from what people have told me and also is involved in Legal marijuana, he has a granite shop in Hamilton, called 'Take Us For Granite'.

Weed was only legalized in 2018, so imagine if it was 1934 and Alcohol was just made legal, lots of positioning for future profit, which equals lots of reason to kill IMO
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

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Article on PPP so speaks about Geraci’s arraignment on Thursday.

Cheektowaga strip club not entitled to PPP loan, appeals court rules
Link: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/chee ... op-story-1
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

Post by calabrianwatch »

SantoClaus wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 4:20 am There has been multiple examples of people in Hamilton that have been charged in various drug network arrests in and around the war in Ontario, interestingly the trend is that all of them seem to avoid jail time and are back on the streets as if nothing happens.

The only reason that logically makes sense IMO is that they are working with the police/state, has anyone found anything else that would add to that?

Isn't there a cop on here from Hamilton that can help add or subtract from this observation?

Reason I ask, is that from my research it feels as if this network is responsible for the murder of Carmen Verducci, as a way to destabilize the province, Verducci had a presence in Hamilton?
Carmine Verduci was the 'ndrangheta transatlantic messenger - in Canada he was linked with the Jonica people - Bruzzese, Commisso & Aquino/Coluccio.These families were all 'opposing' Rizzuto. But Verduci was (believed to) play a double role in closeness with Rizzuto too or people close to him for business ventures really. The Italian hypothesis is that the Violi in Hamilton were always siding with the 'ndrangheta (Siderno people) and ruling on Hamilton with the blessing of Montreal. So at the death of Verduci, the war might have required them to take sides.
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

Post by SantoClaus »

calabrianwatch wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:17 am
SantoClaus wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 4:20 am There has been multiple examples of people in Hamilton that have been charged in various drug network arrests in and around the war in Ontario, interestingly the trend is that all of them seem to avoid jail time and are back on the streets as if nothing happens.

The only reason that logically makes sense IMO is that they are working with the police/state, has anyone found anything else that would add to that?

Isn't there a cop on here from Hamilton that can help add or subtract from this observation?

Reason I ask, is that from my research it feels as if this network is responsible for the murder of Carmen Verducci, as a way to destabilize the province, Verducci had a presence in Hamilton?
Carmine Verduci was the 'ndrangheta transatlantic messenger - in Canada he was linked with the Jonica people - Bruzzese, Commisso & Aquino/Coluccio.These families were all 'opposing' Rizzuto. But Verduci was (believed to) play a double role in closeness with Rizzuto too or people close to him for business ventures really. The Italian hypothesis is that the Violi in Hamilton were always siding with the 'ndrangheta (Siderno people) and ruling on Hamilton with the blessing of Montreal. So at the death of Verduci, the war might have required them to take sides.
Wow! Thanks for sharing, the international implications are wild! This may be off topic, but do you know anything related to the murder of the trans-gender cammorista in 2016?

https://www.thedailybeast.com/transgend ... -in-naples
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

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Wow! Thanks for sharing, the international implications are wild! This may be off topic, but do you know anything related to the murder of the trans-gender cammorista in 2016?

https://www.thedailybeast.com/transgend ... -in-naples
[/quote]

She actually wasn't an aspiring camorrista at all - quite the opposite, she refused to help the camorra clan with drug storage - https://napoli.repubblica.it/cronaca/20 ... 139944536/
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

Post by Patrickgold »

Maybe I missed it but when was Iavarone made? Could this prove that there is an active family in LA? Also, Peter Edwards mentioned in his book that the Buffalo LCN was using the casino as the base of their loanshark operation. Has anybody confirmed this and who in Buffalo is in charge of the operation?
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

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Patrickgold wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:03 am Maybe I missed it but when was Iavarone made? Could this prove that there is an active family in LA?
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

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SantoClaus wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 4:34 am I know first hand that Ontario HA President Joe Ertel is definitely tied into the police/state and that from one of his closest friends, that he is also involved in the Legal Weed business. Also, from the same person, he is close with another man named Ross Bommarito from Hamilton, they apparently ride motorcycles together.

Ross is Sicilian, has an interesting past from what people have told me and also is involved in Legal marijuana, he has a granite shop in Hamilton, called 'Take Us For Granite'.

Weed was only legalized in 2018, so imagine if it was 1934 and Alcohol was just made legal, lots of positioning for future profit, which equals lots of reason to kill IMO
Interesting
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

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Patrickgold wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:03 am Maybe I missed it but when was Iavarone made? Could this prove that there is an active family in LA?
We need more info from Morena's cooperation, but a Bonanno soldier and the Buffalo boss apparently thought so. As of right now it's part of the discussion and nobody is in a position to confirm nor discount it.
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

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The plot thickens
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity

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Looking at Todaro and the Ontario warfare...

- Violi implied to Morena that he and others were behind some of the Canadian violence. This means that at least part of the Buffalo-Ontario group approved some of the violence.

- It was apparently after some of the above violence that Violi was promoted to underboss, making him the top Buffalo representantive in Canada.

- Todaro takes protocol seriously, being upset by the presence of an unsanctioned member in his territory and asking for NYC's approval to promote a Canadian underboss. These are just two examples from the limited info we have.

- Given his emphasis on protocol, we can assume Todaro would be extremely bothered by unsanctioned violence in his territory (Ontario), and certainly wouldn't reward one of the men involved in the violence (Violi) with the underboss position. This suggests Todaro may have approved of some of this violence even if he wasn't directly involved in the conspiracy.

- Todaro was suspected of committing a murder earlier in his mafia "career." He knowingly became boss of a mafia organization that swears an oath to commit murder to uphold the honor of the family, also knowing that Canadian mafia figures have been engaged in violence in modern decades that impacts and involves his organization. We have no basis for believing he would refuse to sanction murder if necessary.

- I have issues with some of Gravano's claims lately, but he said he met with both Todaros at their hotel in the mid-1980s and Joe Todaro Jr. made him wade deep into the ocean and talk facing the water in a conversation about mafia politics. Along the same lines, Violi claimed he traveled to Florida where he was promoted to underboss and given information about his promotion. It appears Todaro Jr. continues to be circumspect in his interactions with other mafia members and uses Florida to handle administrative matters.

- It is not unreasonable to speculate that Todaro Jr. is aware of and has approved the mafia violence connected to members of his organization, including caims of violence from the man he "rewarded" with a promotion. Does that mean he made Violi wade neck-deep into the ocean and gargle saltwater when they discussed it? I'm not writing fan-fiction here, just offering informed speculation from the info we've received.

---

Ontario as a landing spot for other organizations:

- Buffalo's presence in Ontario is believed to go back to at least the early 1920s, possibly earlier. Border crossing records show that senior Ontario-based Buffalo member Calogero Bordonaro regularly traveled between Hamilton and Buffalo in the 1920s and 1930s. There is no question the Buffalo mafia family has always found nearby Ontario a desirable place for members.

- In the 1960s, Stefano Magaddino was recorded complaining that Joe Bonanno had expanded his 10 member Montreal decina to include additional members, including some in Ontario. Subsequent FBI reports identify an Ontario-based group in the Bonanno family under the direction of a redacted name who reported to Montreal liaisons Phil Rastelli and Nick Marangello. The Sciascia-Rizzuto leadership again shows a Bonanno interest in Ontario -- it can be presumed there were still earlier members/associates in the area and there is also speculation that the Sciascia-Rizzuto group attempted to expand their Ontario operations and have had both alliances and animosity with/toward local Ontario figures (some of them Buffalo members).

- When Dominick Longo was inducted into the Los Angeles family, Jimmy Fratianno states that the LA leadership arranged via a Detroit member for Longo to be introduced to members in Montreal. Montreal might be erroneous on Fratianno's part, as Longo was from Ontario and had relatives/compaesani involved with the Buffalo family and 'ndrangheta. The involvement of a Detroit member lends itself to Ontario as well given the proximity. The Longos come from the same Calabrian hometown as the Sylvestros, who in turn were related to Dante Gasbarrini. Gasbarrini was suspected of inheriting John Papalia's position (capodecina?) in the Buffalo family following Papalia's death and it's possible Gasbarrini held the position until his 2014 death. A younger Sylvestro was also identified as a contemporary mafia figure in the Ontario area.

- For reasons that have yet to be clarified, former Brooklyn Bath Ave associate Vincenzo Morena settled in Hamilton following a long prison sentence and a period spent in his native Italy. The Bonanno family followed time-honored protocol and involved the Buffalo family in this process. For other reasons yet to be clarified, the Bonanno family inducted Morena into their organization as a Hamilton-based member reporting to an NYC capodecina, allowing Buffalo member Violi to attend the induction. Why did the Bonanno family induct Morena in Hamilton? If it was a purely operational decision, i.e. moneymaking or business opportunities, Morena could have done that as an associate under the protection of the Bonanno and Buffalo families. The Bonannos put great effort into making Morena a formally-inducted member representing them in Ontario.

- Morena's cooperation apparently revealed that longtime Ontario-based mafia associate Albert Iavarone was "straightened out" by Los Angeles and proper protocol was not followed, as Joe Todaro was not informed of Iavarone's status, naturally leading the boss of the area to be upset. Why would the LA family induct an Ontario-based member? How would they know him? Is this information accurate? These questions are currently unanswerable.

- Following the Inzerillos' return to Sicily and the rise of their ally LoPiccolo, Giovanni Inzerillo and Filippo Casamento travled to Toronto in 2004 where they met with local high-ranking Sicilian mafia members. Filippo Casamento was at one time the underboss of Boccadifalco and allegedly transferred his membership to the Gambino family when he lived in NYC. Giovanni Inzerillo's father was the murdered boss of Passo di Rigano and his extended relatives are high-ranking members of the Gambino and Los Angeles families.

^^^^^^^^

There appears to be something desirable in the modern mafia about the Ontario area. It makes sense why the Bonanno Montreal element has had an ongoing interest in the area, but the NYC Bonanno leadership wanted their own man reporting directly to them in the area. And not just a "man," but a formally inducted member under the protection of the local Buffalo family. It doesn't strike me as any more absurd than another family doing the same thing, as in the case of Iavarone, but in Iavarone's case he wasn't an outsider who moved to Ontario, but an Ontario local who was apparently inducted by a US-based family without Joe Todaro's knowledge/approval.

The Gambino-Inzerillo network, at least the Sicilian side, also saw something desirable about networking in Ontario. There are also rumors that the Gambino family, including Frank Cali, had an interest in Canadian activities. There is no information to suggest anyone from the different mafia families in the Gambino-Inzerillo network have made members in Ontario. However, this network does have a high-ranking member in Los Angeles and a recent tape recording of Sicilian boss Accursio Dimino made reference to placing international gambling machines in California. There is reason to believe Tommaso Gambino is if nothing else a point of contact and LA representative of this wider Sicilian-American mafia network.

If the Los Angeles part of the Iavarone story is true, he was made into a family that is believed to be little more than a small cog in the Gambino-Inzerillo network today. However, it has been years since we received inside intelligence into Los Angeles membership and activities. There are historic connections between Los Angeles and Ontario, but we have no information suggesting those existed after Longo's 1985 death. However, Longo's compaesani the Sylvestros appear to still live and operate in Ontario mafia circles and the Sylvestros' relative Gasbarrini was a powerful figure still living until 2014. That's only what we know of, as there is a severe lack of inside intelligence into Canadian mafia affairs, both Ontario and Quebec.

We need much more info on Iavarone's background. Was he Calabrian like the people he associated with? He doesn't look Sicilian nor is there any other indication of a Sicilian conection. If he's Calabrian, is he related to other Calabrians involved in the Ontario underworld? Does his family come from one of the same villages? Are they from another part of Italy? All important questions given this sort of networking is and always has been crucial to these international relationships.

We do know Iavarone regularly visited Florida and along with his wife traveled to Southern California prior to his death as part of a larger tour of the US.

--

I think everyone on here can agree that Ontario is an important location in modern international mafia circles. The bullets certainly seem to think so, regardless of who is firing them.
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