Montreal Mafia status - Post Rizzuto Era

[motorfab]

Thanks for the tip and the previous post. Do you know if the itv of Vito will be available on the net after this friday ? Because at 21h in Canadian hour I'll definitely miss it

The J.E program episodes always reside at https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/emissions/je. After the broadcast this Friday, there should be a specific URL for the particular episode--I'll provide the link on Saturday.

motorfab,

As promised: https://www.tvanouvelles.ca//emissions/ ... 6210440001

Leonardo Rizzuto’s 6-hour interrogation appears to have been conducted entirely in English. The 30-minute episode actually has French subtitles for the scenes where he’s interrogated.

Merci chef,

I'll chek it out probably during the weekend, I saw in the trailer that the tv show had French sub, so everything will be fine. Thanks again

[CabriniGreen]

Interesting that the article says sports betting is now their "most important" activity. That would be a major change.

Apologies ahead of time..... deep dive, well.... not that deep....


It actually jibes with the Caruana- Cuntreras loss of narcotics contacts, or rather..... their status as one of, if not THE primary contact for Cosa Nostra.

For the Mafia, its ALWAYS either the contacts, or importation, the docks. Contacts with suppliers, or contacts at docks. They will never have the MANPOWER to truly compete for street level sales with big gangs. So them getting involved direct in narcotics distribution tells me they maybe lost leverage on being the exclusive source for supply.





It just cant be a coincidence. They go from being direct at the source in Venezuela, securing supply for the entirety of LCN in Sicily. Then Riina goes nuts, huge crackdown. So then they look to the like, the top 6 Ndrangheta clans for distribution and in 1994 lose over 5000 kilos. This seems to mark the rise of Ndrangheta, I believe they took on the debt, and gained the trust of South America. By 1998, the Rizzutos through Manno are reduced to buying from wholesalers in Florida.

When Basciano goes up there to reactivate the drug pipeline, its weed and pills. No coke. I think it's like 2000 or so.....Hmmmmmm.... around this same time period, Vito gets pushed by his guys into accepting a distribution arrangement, when before they just controlled supply, and shared control of the docks. I dont think he ever would have sat down with them before. By 2004, Scoppa was said to be the biggest importer, along with a few others like Lou Melou, the Hells Angel.


So I feel like they lost a ton of strength in the drug world.
Keep in mind, the Inzerillos were right there in Venezuela, yet they seemed to maintain their contacts, as evidenced by their interactions with the borgata in Porto Empedocle, and Calis dealings with Nicchi and Mandala.
So if the Inzerillos still have the contacts, what happened to the Caruana- Cuntreras?





Another thing I feel like Renaud if off on, is the narcotics today. It sounds like they reactivated the Table, the narcotics distribution control board, like the Wires Co- Op. Why not just supply? Or tax the imports?


Now, we JUST got info from the murder trials of the (Faldutos ?) that Miriarchi controls the cocaine pipeline, to the point that they made him exempt from murder intrigues to a certain extent. So, respectfully, what is Renaud talking about here? He also doesnt mention Miriarchi at all, so I dont fully trust his take on things.

Never forget, in his book, he thought the Rizzutos tried to hit Dejardins, and that it might have come from Libertina Rizzuto.





It also, actually finally makes the sportsbook conform to logic, lol. I couldnt understand why in the world the book was in the hands of guys like Valiquette.
Or the strange, shareholder type system. But maybe the pandemic delivered it into their hands exclusively.......

It still doesnt explain why the Bonnanos in NY have no points in it. If anything they should have THAT. Instead, they send Zummo and Morena to meet the Violis to secure cocaine routes........ notice again the importance of the contacts......


No mention of why Davide Baberio got shot. No status on Whooley. Forazzacco, Pizzi, Charlie Renda, I also would love to see a breakdown of exactly what gangs are allied with which Mobsters, and what territories also.

[CabriniGreen]

I forgot to add..... after the Caruana- Cuntreras lost strength in the drug trade, this is when you saw the Rizzutos getting cozy with the Coluccios, and their Mexican connections. Then THEY got busted.... leaving the Rizzutos, and the whole Canadian situation in flux.....

[Etna]

Interesting that the article says sports betting is now their "most important" activity. That would be a major change.

Apologies ahead of time..... deep dive, well.... not that deep....


It actually jibes with the Caruana- Cuntreras loss of narcotics contacts, or rather..... their status as one of, if not THE primary contact for Cosa Nostra.

For the Mafia, its ALWAYS either the contacts, or importation, the docks. Contacts with suppliers, or contacts at docks. They will never have the MANPOWER to truly compete for street level sales with big gangs. So them getting involved direct in narcotics distribution tells me they maybe lost leverage on being the exclusive source for supply.





It just cant be a coincidence. They go from being direct at the source in Venezuela, securing supply for the entirety of LCN in Sicily. Then Riina goes nuts, huge crackdown. So then they look to the like, the top 6 Ndrangheta clans for distribution and in 1994 lose over 5000 kilos. This seems to mark the rise of Ndrangheta, I believe they took on the debt, and gained the trust of South America. By 1998, the Rizzutos through Manno are reduced to buying from wholesalers in Florida.

When Basciano goes up there to reactivate the drug pipeline, its weed and pills. No coke. I think it's like 2000 or so.....Hmmmmmm.... around this same time period, Vito gets pushed by his guys into accepting a distribution arrangement, when before they just controlled supply, and shared control of the docks. I dont think he ever would have sat down with them before. By 2004, Scoppa was said to be the biggest importer, along with a few others like Lou Melou, the Hells Angel.


So I feel like they lost a ton of strength in the drug world.
Keep in mind, the Inzerillos were right there in Venezuela, yet they seemed to maintain their contacts, as evidenced by their interactions with the borgata in Porto Empedocle, and Calis dealings with Nicchi and Mandala.
So if the Inzerillos still have the contacts, what happened to the Caruana- Cuntreras?





Another thing I feel like Renaud if off on, is the narcotics today. It sounds like they reactivated the Table, the narcotics distribution control board, like the Wires Co- Op. Why not just supply? Or tax the imports?


Now, we JUST got info from the murder trials of the (Faldutos ?) that Miriarchi controls the cocaine pipeline, to the point that they made him exempt from murder intrigues to a certain extent. So, respectfully, what is Renaud talking about here? He also doesnt mention Miriarchi at all, so I dont fully trust his take on things.

Never forget, in his book, he thought the Rizzutos tried to hit Dejardins, and that it might have come from Libertina Rizzuto.





It also, actually finally makes the sportsbook conform to logic, lol. I couldnt understand why in the world the book was in the hands of guys like Valiquette.
Or the strange, shareholder type system. But maybe the pandemic delivered it into their hands exclusively.......

It still doesnt explain why the Bonnanos in NY have no points in it. If anything they should have THAT. Instead, they send Zummo and Morena to meet the Violis to secure cocaine routes........ notice again the importance of the contacts......


No mention of why Davide Baberio got shot. No status on Whooley. Forazzacco, Pizzi, Charlie Renda, I also would love to see a breakdown of exactly what gangs are allied with which Mobsters, and what territories also.

Fantastic summary. So from the timeframe it looks like the Caruana-Cuntreras (amongst mob readers) have been only known for a former status which had not really existed for some time with regards to direct connections to south america.

As for Porto Empedocle, can you ellaborate more on the connection there? Not sure on who they reached out to there? Obviously the major clans in Montreal are from the province of Agrigento - just not Porto Empedocle.

Do you think the Coluccio connection could have been the link to carry out the Moreno Gallo hit?

[stubbs]

Great article here on the Coluccios and the Mexican drug cartels

The Business Relationship Between Italy's Mafia and Mexico's Drug Cartels

EUROPE CRIME / 19 JUN 2014 BY SERGIO CORRADO AND FRANCESCA REALACCI* EN

ᐳ ᐳ ᐳ The Business Relationship Between Italy’s Mafia and Mexico’s Drug Cartels
Powerful Mexican drug cartels, namely the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, have entered into a business relationship with several Italian criminal networks, including the 'Ndrangheta, an organization that encompasses the Coluccio and Aquino families in New York and the Schirripa family in Calabria in southern Italy. Italian prosecutor Nicola Grattieri has declared that these connections can largely be attributed to the Mexican cartels' need for a new market and the Italian cartels' quest for new drug providers and safer routes and warehouses for housing shipments.

Though the United States still possesses the largest market for cocaine, Europe is rapidly catching up. In fact, demand for cocaine in the United States has decreased during the past few years, as illustrated by a decline of 68% in cocaine-positive urine tests in US workplaces between 2006 and 2010.

A version of this article originally appeared on the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) website and was reprinted with permisson. See original here. This is the second in a two-part COHA series. See part one here.

Conversely, the volume of cocaine consumed among cocaine users in the countries of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association (which includes the countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) has doubled over the last decade and reached an estimated capitalization of $33 billion at retail level in 2009. This figure is not too distant from the comparable US statistic, which was approximately $37 billion in 2009.

Over the past few years the 'Ndrangheta has begun to look for new providers and updated supply tracks. Today, the 'Ndrangheta is perhaps the wealthiest criminal organization in Europe, with a net worth of almost 44 billion Euros (around $60 billion) -- it is worth noting that this trumps certain European countries, like Estonia and Slovenia, whose economies' GDPs are measured at 13.2 billion ($18 billion) and 30.4 billion Euros ($41.4 billion) respectively.

The organization has planned to reduce the cost of supplying drugs, particularly from South America, by means of bypassing brokers and looking for vehicles for direct contact with cartels, especially those located in Colombia. Due to this unique strategy, the 'Ndrangheta has become a major actor in the international drug trafficking market.

Importantly, 'Ndrangheta members are considered reliable business counterparts by other criminal organizations thanks to their access to vast financial resources. Furthermore, due to the fact that the 'Ndrangheta cell is composed of tight knit family members, informants cooperating with the authorities coming from the 'Ndrangheta families are very few and far between. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, their affiliates control the harbor of Gioia Tauro (located in Calabria, on the Tyrrhenian coast), which is one of the most economically critical ports in Europe. Beyond legal goods, traffickers bring high volumes of drugs through the area. Between March 2011 and June 2012, for instance, the Italian authorities seized 2,632.315 kilos of pure cocaine coming through the harbor from South America (pdf).

How Everything Started: "Project Reckoning"

On September 17, 2008, the economic linkage between the Zetas and the 'Ndrangheta families of Coluccio and Aquino became public for the first time. The operation -- called "Project Reckoning," (also known as "Operation Solare") -- revealed that under the supervision of 'Ndrangheta boss Giuseppe Coluccio, the joint venture between the 'Ndrangheta and the Zetas allowed for the transportation of mass amounts of cocaine to Europe, mainly through the port of Gioia Tauro. Specifically, the police seized more than 16,000 kg of cocaine, 470 kilos of methamphetamine, 8 kilos of heroin, over 23,000 kilos of marijuana, 176 vehicles, and 167 weapons. US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Invesitgation (FBI), and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents participated in the operation, which required 15 months of continued investigation.

Carabinieri Captain Massimiliano D'Angelantonio emphasized that, thanks to this investigation, international police forces were able to discover that Giuseppe Coluccio was hidden in a lavish penthouse in Canada on the shore of Lake Ontario. Authorities arrested him on August 7, 2008.

Coluccio had organized and was able to manage a wide drug trafficking network with the assistance of Giuseppe "Big Joe" Cutrera, his business partner in the food company "Mangiare", located in Toronto. They organized a cartel trafficking cocaine and heroin from Latin American countries to Europe. The main dealer in this enterprise was Luis Calderon, who sent cocaine by air from the United States to Italy to be sold by the Schirripa family on the Italian market.

Once this relationship was uncovered, the White House added the 'Ndrangheta Organization to the list of "Narcotics Kingpin Organizations," (pdf) which tracks major crime organizations that pose a threat to US security concerns. At the time, the 'Ndrangheta was thought to be responsible for the shipment of about 80 tons of cocaine to Europe from South America via New York in cooperation with Gulf Cartel cells, namely the Zetas group (at that time working for the Gulf Cartel, but now an independent cartel) operating in the New York City metropolitan area.

While only drug dealers were imprisoned as a result of Project Reckoning, bosses of 'Ndrangheta and Mexican drug cartels were later implicated for crimes thanks to the Italian operation "Crimine 3" ("Crime 3") also known as "Solare 2," conducted in 2011.

In July 2011, Reggio Calabria's (the biggest city in Southern Italy's region of Calabria) judge for preliminary investigations led to the issuing of 45 arrest warrants carrying the charge of criminal conspiracy related to international drug trafficking. This has led to investigations that allowed Italian, Spanish, American, and Dutch police forces to seize 809,283 kilos of cocaine. The operation highlights the existence of a consortium between the 'Ndrangheta families (namely, the Jerino, Aquino, Bruzzese, Comisso, Siderno, and Pesce families), which managed drugs arriving in Europe from Central and South America.

A key figure in recent developments has been Giulio Schirripa's uncle, Vincenzo Roccisano. Since Schirripa was imprisoned by international police forces in the Project Reckoning-Solare operation, Roccisano started to look for new alliances. Besides maintaining his nephew's connections with some Zetas members that used to traffic cocaine in New York coming from Colombia and Venezuela, he met the brothers Luis Ernesto, Luis Leander, and Luis Mario Lara Alvarez (Spanish citizens from Colombia), the Venezuelan Edmundo Salazar, and the Surinamese Wierdjanandsing Gopal.

It was this group's idea to use the Gioia Tauro harbor as a delivery center for drug shipments. The group later organized a shipment process that relied on the company Diamante Fruit, which imported bananas and other agricultural products from Ecuador into Europe. Drugs were smuggled in several ships and, upon their arrival at Gioia Tauro, the drugs were stored in warehouses owned by service companies which had ties with the aforementioned Pesce family. The system was successful in expanding drug shipments to Europe.

Italian Carabinieri forces led by Colonel Pasquale Angelosanto and ROS commander Giampaolo Ganzer discovered that in only a few months, a dozen cocaine shipments arrived at Gioia Tauro's docks. For each load of cocaine transiting through the port, the Pesces kept -- and continue to keep -- a part for themselves. The Latin America-Gioia Tauro route was not the only one. Shipments also went to ports in the Netherlands and were then delivered to Italy and to other European countries by land.

Furthermore, the 'Ndrangheta was not the only Italian Mafia in the business. Vincenzo Roccisano was in contact with Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia, through Giuseppe Spatola, a major Mafia member operating in Palermo. Roccisano let the Cosa Nostra enter the business, and in doing so, he made sure that he had two different drug-buying mechanisms able to operate in Italy. Whenever the 'Ndrangheta could not assure financial coverage because of imprisonments or requisitions deployed by Italian police forces, the Sicilian Mafia would immediately be called into the drug trade from South America, facilitating the flow of money being sought after by the Zetas.

As confirmed by the attorney general of Reggio Calabria, Giuseppe Pignatone, the present relationship between the Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta is reversed compared to that of twenty years ago. While in the 1990s the Sicilian Mafia was the hegemon in transatlantic heroin trafficking, today Calabria's Mafia holds hegemony in cocaine trafficking, and the Cosa Nostra only provides support and aid in distribution.

Recent Developments

A more recent investigation called "Operation Monterrey" was carried out by anti-drug police forces in Palermo and the DEA in June 2012. The operation exposed the entrepreneur brothers Bruno and Elio Gerardi, who organized an international drug trafficking network involving dealers from the Cosa Nostra as well as from the Camorra, both elements of the Italian Mafia. Additionally, Mexican drug traffickers from Monterrey aided in transporting hundreds of tons of cocaine from Monterrey to Palermo and from Monterrey to Dutch harbors. The cocaine was hidden inside industrial ovens, manufactured by the Gerardi brothers' company. This operation confirms that Cosa Nostra now avoids exposing itself on the front line of international drug trafficking, in order to elude costly punishments. It prefers instead to only provide financial support to the drug trade.

The latest news in the public domain on the relationship between Mexican drug cartels and Italian Mafia regards arrests of key narco-trafficking figures. On November 2, 2013, Italian law enforcement police officers captured Venezuelan fugitive Edmundo Jose Salazar Cermeno in Rome. He is alleged to be a key member in the drug trafficking network exposed by the Operation Crimine 3 - Solare 2. Salazar Cermeno is believed to be in charge of the logistic support for cocaine smuggling into Spain on behalf of the 'Ndrangheta families Aquino and Coluccio. Cermeno transported the drug by means of corrupted Spanish policemen and also in containers by air. According to Italian prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, some of the planes in which they transported the drug were also able to land on water.

Since November, further arrests have also been made. In February, 24 members of the Gambino and Bonanno crime families were arrested in New York and several Italian cities by the FBI and Italian police. Seven 'Ndrangheta members were among those arrested, and authorities quickly established the Italy-Mexico connection in the individuals' trafficking operations. Thereafter, in April, a high-ranking member of the 'Ndrangheta, Nicola Pignatelli, who had been hiding in a resort town in the Dominican Republic since 2011 after fleeing Italy, was arrested.

In Need of More Effective Drug Enforcement Cooperation

In today's global economy, transnational criminal organizations take advantage of free trade and circulation agreements as well as the lack of well-coordinated and comprehensive multinational law enforcement systems. Success will only be possible after a coordinated prevention effort led by both Rome and Mexico City. Additionally, while joint operations between Italian drug enforcement agencies and the DEA have been highlighted, similar initiatives do not seem to exist between Mexican anti-drug police forces and their Italian counterparts. In fact, as Nicola Gratteri has pointed out, the law enforcement system in Mexico is heavily imbued with corruption. Reasons for this problematic and widespread development in Mexico could be the low wages of Mexican police officers or the influence of powerful businessmen and politicians who are secretly involved in the now thriving narco-business.

In addition, as the same Italian prosecutor highlights, it is very difficult for Italian authorities to work with the present decentralized Mexican law enforcement system, where police officers are under the direction of each state's governor. As long as corruption and lack of cooperation is present in the relationship between Mexican and Italian law enforcement agencies, the criminal organizations from these two countries will likely be the big winners.

[stubbs]

Coluccio had organized and was able to manage a wide drug trafficking network with the assistance of Giuseppe "Big Joe" Cutrera, his business partner in the food company "Mangiare", located in Toronto. They organized a cartel trafficking cocaine and heroin from Latin American countries to Europe. The main dealer in this enterprise was Luis Calderon, who sent cocaine by air from the United States to Italy to be sold by the Schirripa family on the Italian market.

I thought his quote stood out. Clearly the author meant “Cuntrera”, right?

And it discussing them organizing shipments from Latin America to Europe, which is interesting.

[PogueMahone]

Thanks for sharing th link Antimafia.

Leonardo Rizzuto comes off looking pretty good under pressure IMO. In six hours, he didn’t say anything that could incriminate himself or others and tried to manipulate police into seeing him like a victim of sorts.

[antimafia]

Les confidences d’un chef de la mafia après son arrestation

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/ ... rrestation

[John W]

Thanks for sharing th link Antimafia.

Leonardo Rizzuto comes off looking pretty good under pressure IMO. In six hours, he didn’t say anything that could incriminate himself or others and tried to manipulate police into seeing him like a victim of sorts.

People forget that Leonardo Rizzuto is a lawyer so will be good at talking but not giving away much.

[antimafia]

^^^^
Filmé tout au long de son trajet dans le métro

https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/just ... -metro.php

Who’s a good boy?

Police dog found important evidence near scene of Laval homicide.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/four-l ... l-homicide

[PogueMahone]

Not mob-related but worth sharing that there was an attempted murder on an associate of the HAs today:

https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/just ... eurtre.php

[antimafia]

Thanks for sharing th link Antimafia.

Leonardo Rizzuto comes off looking pretty good under pressure IMO. In six hours, he didn’t say anything that could incriminate himself or others and tried to manipulate police into seeing him like a victim of sorts.

People forget that Leonardo Rizzuto is a lawyer so will be good at talking but not giving away much.

https://twitter.com/ad_humphreys/status ... 26848?s=21

This show by @felixseguin is astounding viewing for anyone following the Montreal Mafia. I'm having flashbacks to when Leonardo Rizzuto was under oath answering my questions for hours, followed by me under oath being questioned by him. Phew. Fun times.

https://twitter.com/ad_humphreys/status ... 18282?s=21

Yeah, he sued me for a million bucks over my book The Sixth Family. He got nothing, though.

[antimafia]

Trois pistolets utilisés pour tuer Sébastien Beauchamp

https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/just ... uchamp.php

[antimafia]

« Il a un pistolet, il vient vers toi ! Baisse-toi ! »

https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/just ... se-toi.php

[antimafia]

^^^^
Witness to St-Léonard killing tried chasing the gunman.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local- ... the-gunman