Arrests in NY, induction ceremony taped

[Wiseguy]

Notice I didn’t say Buffalo is active in this comment. I just pointed out that Fino, succinctly said it was. Given what Fino wrote Herbeck, it would have nice if Herbeck highlighted his change of mind instead of just using the small quote he used.

As to Buffalo being active, you are right I have suggested it is on other forums. Rumors I heard made me think it was/is... However, you arguments and Nicky’s are good. And I question whether their is a “family.”

All I can say is something is active in WNY and the Niagara Region. Recent information substantiates (but doesn’t prove) this notion.

What it is active? Who knows...

The feds and OC experts know. And the evidence over the past 20 years supports what they have said.

The recent drug bust - which simply involved some people on the Canadian side of the border, some of whom are apparently members of what was the Buffalo LCN family - doesn't change that. No more than a member and some associates in Kansas City busted for gambling in 2010 means there is still a family there. Was there "something going on" in the form of remnants of the family, and others, involved in crime? Yes. But anything beyond that is pure speculation and fantasy.

A Crime Syndicate being run by the former Buffalo Family?

Not sure what that even means.

Violi’s running OC in the Niagara region (both Canada & US) that includes remnants of the former family and associates?

Probably the closest to the truth, though "running OC" implies more than we've seen.

One or more than one of the 5 families running crews in WNY in connection with N’drangheta in GTA?

Nope.

Or a Buffalo Family that has put itself back together under the radar?

Nope.

Who knows! Given what we’ve learned something is active... and those who live in the area already had a good suspicion something was going on.

Nobody ever said there weren't some members or associates involved in crime. But those with suspicions claimed more than that.

By the way, you mention the 2006 FBI chart on the Buffalo Family. If you have a copy or know where to find it, I’d love to see it. The only thing I can find is a Niagara Falls Reporter article that references it. Not saying it doesn’t exist, I just can’t find it. Thanks!

That article was the only source about the chart. The FBI never released it publically as far as I know.

What we do know is the family was said to have about 45 members in the late 1980s/early 1990s. By 2006, the FBI chart showed 23 remaining members. A 2013 article said there were 20 members left at lost.

[Confederate]

Notice I didn’t say Buffalo is active in this comment. I just pointed out that Fino, succinctly said it was. Given what Fino wrote Herbeck, it would have nice if Herbeck highlighted his change of mind instead of just using the small quote he used.

As to Buffalo being active, you are right I have suggested it is on other forums. Rumors I heard made me think it was/is... However, you arguments and Nicky’s are good. And I question whether their is a “family.”

All I can say is something is active in WNY and the Niagara Region. Recent information substantiates (but doesn’t prove) this notion.

What it is active? Who knows...

The feds and OC experts know. And the evidence over the past 20 years supports what they have said.

The recent drug bust - which simply involved some people on the Canadian side of the border, some of whom are apparently members of what was the Buffalo LCN family - doesn't change that. No more than a member and some associates in Kansas City busted for gambling in 2010 means there is still a family there. Was there "something going on" in the form of remnants of the family, and others, involved in crime? Yes. But anything beyond that is pure speculation and fantasy.

A Crime Syndicate being run by the former Buffalo Family?

Not sure what that even means.

Violi’s running OC in the Niagara region (both Canada & US) that includes remnants of the former family and associates?

Probably the closest to the truth, though "running OC" implies more than we've seen.

One or more than one of the 5 families running crews in WNY in connection with N’drangheta in GTA?

Nope.

Or a Buffalo Family that has put itself back together under the radar?

Nope.

Who knows! Given what we’ve learned something is active... and those who live in the area already had a good suspicion something was going on.

Nobody ever said there weren't some members or associates involved in crime. But those with suspicions claimed more than that.

By the way, you mention the 2006 FBI chart on the Buffalo Family. If you have a copy or know where to find it, I’d love to see it. The only thing I can find is a Niagara Falls Reporter article that references it. Not saying it doesn’t exist, I just can’t find it. Thanks!

That article was the only source about the chart. The FBI never released it publically as far as I know.

What we do know is the family was said to have about 45 members in the late 1980s/early 1990s. By 2006, the FBI chart showed 23 remaining members. A 2013 article said there were 20 members left at lost.

Wiseguy, You missed your true calling in Life. You should have been an Attorney writing Motions and refuting arguments from the opposition during Discovery. Well done, Sir.

[NickleCity]

@wiseguy ... I love it. Of course you don’t know what “a crime syndicate run by members of the former Buffalo Crime Family means.” No one does... All we know is there is a Todaro Crime Syndicate that according to one article used to be LCN. What does that mean? LOL... All me know is it means something was/is happening Buffalo Niagara area.

[Confederate]

@wiseguy ... I love it. Of course you don’t know what “a crime syndicate run by members of the former Buffalo Crime Family means.” No one does... All we know is there is a Todaro Crime Syndicate that according to one article used to be LCN. What does that mean? LOL... All me know is it means something was/is happening Buffalo Niagara area.

Joseph Todaro Sr. died in 2012, 6 years ago. Todaro Jr. runs an extremely successful Pizza Business called La Nova. Their Gross Sales are 10 times what the average Pizzeria is in America. There is no Todaro Crime Syndicate. There is NO NEED for a Todaro Crime Syndicate. All the LE experts including Fino, Deitch, Coppola, Clark, Goralski and others have said there is no Buffalo Mafia Family anymore AND there is NO TODARO CRIME SYNDICATE.
Now, will you please shut the fuck up about a Todaro Crime Syndicate and go back to GBB with your hypothetical fantasy.

[Wiseguy]

@wiseguy ... I love it. Of course you don’t know what “a crime syndicate run by members of the former Buffalo Crime Family means.” No one does... All we know is there is a Todaro Crime Syndicate that according to one article used to be LCN. What does that mean? LOL... All me know is it means something was/is happening Buffalo Niagara area.

By definition, a syndicate is "a group of individuals or organizations combined to promote some common interest." So, I suppose a couple Todaro family members and others engaged in drug trafficking could be labeled as such but I would hold off on taking that description by Anna Sergi literally or reading too much into it. Not sure why she labeled it the Todaro Crime Syndicate, or what she meant by it no longer being a part of of the LCN.

[Pogo The Clown]

Buffalo is a dead city and not just in terms of LCN either.


Pogo

[CabriniGreen]

@B.

I forgot to mention this, but Catalano might not be the best example to illustrate your point, as I'm pretty sure the ONLY reason he was qualified to be considered for boss WAS the narcotics operations, he could barely talk to the American guys.

@ wiseguy

Didnt the Violis indictment mention this syndicate too?

[CabriniGreen]

Also, I'm slightly confused, is Hamilton THAT much bigger than Buffalo?

And why is Buffalo a dead city? Not the mob. Lol but the actual city....

This why I asked why Hamilton for the ceremony. Are they actually interested in Hamilton RACKETS? Or are they trying to tap into the reservoir of Hamilton mob contacts. These contacts being Calabrian cocaine?

I ask the same questions, like why Buffalo? Smuggling routes? It's the only thing I can come up with.....a reason for the TERRITORY to be valuable.

Besides the Violis, are there any senior figures left with a valuable reservoir of contacts that could benefit a mobster from NY?

[Wiseguy]

@ wiseguy

Didnt the Violis indictment mention this syndicate too?

I only saw the press release (below). The RCMP uses their standard "Traditional Organized Crime" phraseology, and they mention the Gambino and Bonanno families in reference to the arrests by the FBI in New York, but nothing about a Todaro Crime Syndicate.

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/news/2017/ ... ime-canada

[SonnyBlackstein]

Todaro Crime Syndicate = East Coast LCN Crime Syndicate.

[antimafia]

Also, I'm slightly confused, is Hamilton THAT much bigger than Buffalo?

And why is Buffalo a dead city? Not the mob. Lol but the actual city....

This why I asked why Hamilton for the ceremony. Are they actually interested in Hamilton RACKETS? Or are they trying to tap into the reservoir of Hamilton mob contacts. These contacts being Calabrian cocaine?

I ask the same questions, like why Buffalo? Smuggling routes? It's the only thing I can come up with.....a reason for the TERRITORY to be valuable.

Besides the Violis, are there any senior figures left with a valuable reservoir of contacts that could benefit a mobster from NY?

In answer to some of your questions:

1. We don't know where the Bonanno induction ceremony in Canada took place, only that it took place in Canada. As I wrote on Gangster BB last November, based on the articles published as far back as 2014 in relation to Operation J-Tornado, I guessed that Vincenzo Morena was living somewhere between Laval and Drummondville, both in Quebec. He was definitely living in the province; so we can't rule out the ceremony could have happened somewhere in Quebec.

2. No organized-crime groups in Canada--not even individuals--are involved in smuggling cocaine across the border to the US. As I wrote on Gangster BB back in November 2016:

For many years now, there has been no evidence that major or minor shipments of coke are being smuggled into the US from Canada.

Most cocaine being smuggled into Canada (the destination country) passes through the United States (transit country). The cocaine has been primarily getting into Canada over land through border points via vehicles (mostly commercial). The cocaine has also been getting through Canadian maritime ports and, to a lesser extent, through airports and parcel (for example, through the Léo-Blanchette mail processing centre, which is located in Saint-Laurent, Quebec).

The provenance of the cocaine entering Canada is known in general terms--we know the source countries are typically Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia (but not just those countries); we know that before the coke destined for Canada goes through the US, other transit countries may include Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, or others. We also know that insofar as the cocaine entering Canada bypasses the continental US, the route is usually Mexico, up the Pacific Ocean, and into British Columbia.

[antimafia]

@B.

I forgot to mention this, but Catalano might not be the best example to illustrate your point, as I'm pretty sure the ONLY reason he was qualified to be considered for boss WAS the narcotics operations, he could barely talk to the American guys.

@ wiseguy

Didnt the Violis indictment mention this syndicate too?

The separate indictments for Damiano Zummo and Salvatore Russo, Paul Ragusa, and Paul Semplice don't mention the Violis--if I remember correctly, those indictments cover grand jury charges relating to events that happened in 2016 and 2017.

The court filings for the Violis may very well contain information about with which mafia group(s) they are affiliated. Either Anna Sergi or Jane's Intelligence Review somehow got their hands on the court filings. We will likely have to wait for Domenico Violi to undergo a trial to find out what is in those court filings; however, what could happen in his matter is, instead of a full-blown trial, a sentencing like his brother's: short legal proceedings as a result of both the Crown and the Defence coming to an agreement before going in front of the judge. Don't forget that Domenico Violi's lawyer will try to keep suppressed any details about Violi's mafia affiliation--and Violi has retained a very high-profile criminal lawyer.

[CabriniGreen]

@antimafia


Great stuff man, good clarfications. I dont know why I never really think about Vancouver, and BC in general. I was fascinated by their grow ups for a long time....

@Sonny

That's looking like a pretty good explanation for that designation, a media invention then?

[Lupara]

20 members still makes up for a pretty significant crew. There were never more than 20 made members in Montreal either and they were proclaimed the Sixth Family.

[Wiseguy]

20 members still makes up for a pretty significant crew. There were never more than 20 made members in Montreal either and they were proclaimed the Sixth Family.

How many are active is another matter and, in any event, there just hadn't been much in the way way of significant activity there for years now.