Arrests in NY, induction ceremony taped

[Lupara]

Actually, I'm not sure I completely get your point.... like the Calabrians ARE at the basic level, family organizations. You are saying that the Violis being at the wedding is strictly a PLATONIC-family thing, not business? Or are you saying they are just LCN guys who attended the wedding?

What I'm saying is their attendance at a wedding is a result of their relationship but not in any way evidence of being part of the same organization. That would mean that everyone attending, including women and children, would be members of the organization too. You really can't use it as a legitimate argument to question their possible Bonanno membership.

And seriously, since when are weddings NOT major LCN political functions?

I doubt a wedding would be a major LCN political function, but even if it is, you can't compare it to an intraorganizational induction ceremony where there are actual rules of who can attend.

(Think the Bono wedding...or that one wedding Gotti attended, he was able to gage his power in the family by how many guys paid homage or showed respect..)

The Bono wedding is a perfect example of the point I'm trying to make. As you know Bono was a member of the Sicilian Mafia who was in business with the American Mafia and people from both organizations attended the wedding due to their business relationship, not formal affiliation.

Did you think about any of my questions? Who do you think they are under? The Bronx? It's why I asked....
Do you think the, let's just call it the Violi crew, do you think the Violis were made recently ( last 5-10 years) or earlier?

Hard to say. I think at least the elder Violi brother, Domenic, was already a made member when Montagna was deported to Canada. It is possible that they were part of the remants of Buffalo and a transfer into the Bonannos was formalized by Montagna when he was trying to reorganize and re-establish the Bonanno presence in Montreal and Canada.

Also, do you agree with the theory B. had, that the Luppinos were Bonnanos not Maggadino?

Interesting theory but difficult to believe too as Hamilton was part of Magaddino's territory and Magaddino felt threatened enough by Bonanno as it was so hard to imagine he would accept their presence in his backyard. Paoli Violi, the father of the Violi brothers, was clearly a Bonanno member and this would be the main reason for his sons to be inducted into the same family. And as you know, the elder Violi, even though a Bonanno, had strong and deep ties to his fellow Calabrians.

[B.]

I want to make it clear that I wasn't proposing that theory because I believe it, but because of Stefano Magaddino's comments on a transcript of a wiretap. At the very least it points to Luppino being sympathetic with Joe Bonanno's cause, regardless of his formal membership.

We also know from Magaddino's comments that Bonanno had inducted a number of Ontario-based members into the Bonanno Canadian crew, so it leaves some speculation open about who those guys were. It also shuts down theories about the Bonanno Montreal crew first branching into Ontario later.

[Wiseguy]

Quick question regarding the Jane's Intelligence Review report by Anna Sergi.

Part of it reads:

Since approximately 2013, according to sources in the NYPD speaking to Jane's on 16 April, US authorities have observed a "shift towards Calabrian management, primarily in the rankings of the Gambino and Genovese families; these people have always been here...but they now can raise to a position of power." This has been the case most notably since 2014, when Operation New Bridge - a joint FBI-Italian project - uncovered a drug-trafficking network importing cocaine to Europe and heroin to the US. This network was headed by Calabrian mafia clans, using Gambino affiliates tasked with debt collection and money laundering and Genovese associates handling the actual movement of drugs.

Did she get mixed up here? Operation New Bridge involved the Gambino and Bonanno families, not the Genovese, if I'm not mistaken.

If the reported rise of Calabrian leadership is based on that case, would it be the Gambinos and Bonannos then? And who are they talking about specifically?

[Wiseguy]

As far as recent Ndrangheta-related cases in New York over the past decade -



September 2008 - Project Reckoning/Operation Solare case targeted the Gulf and Zeta cartels in Mexico and the Ndrangheta. The Aquino-Coluccio clan and the Schirripa clan were the Calabrian groups involved. One article reported that Vincenzo and Giulio Schirripa had ties to the Genovese family in New York and sought out it's protection in the operation. Interestingly, one of those charged in the case was Christopher Castellano, who had worked at a business owned by Genovese member Anthony "Tough Tony" Federici. Castellano was later shot and killed in Queens in October 2015.



February 2010 - 'Ndrangheta member Vincenzo Roccisano (who had been a major international drug trafficker in the 1980's and deported to Italy in 2002) was arrested and charged in the Southern District with illegal entry into the U.S. He was reportedly affiliated with the Schirripa clan and had ties to Tough Tony Federici.



February 2014 - - Operation New Bridge case targeted the Ndrangheta working with the Mexicans to smuggle cocaine to Europe and heroin to the U.S. The Ursino clan was the specific Calabrian group involved and was said to have ties to the Aquino-Coluccio clan (involved in the 2008 case), as well as the Inzerillo, Spatola-Gambino families from Sicily. Among those charged included Gambino associate Franco Lupoi and Bonanno associate Charles "Charlie Pepsi" Centaro.



March 2015 - Operation Columbus targeted Gregorio Gigliotti (an 'Ndrangheta associate who had allegedly received funding for his drug operation from Genovese captain Anthony "Rom" Romanello). Gigliotti was connected to the Alvaro clan (who in turn also had connections to the Schirripa clan mentioned above.)

[Snakes]

If Violi is with Buffalo why would he induct someone into the Bonannos?

[antimafia]

Peter Edwards's latest article is linked to farther below.

Excerpt:

According to Capeci, the Bonanno crime family has had initiation ceremonies in Canada in the past, but not in Ontario.

“The Bonannos have had induction ceremonies north of the border before, but only in Montreal, as far I know, when the Rizzuto clan was a viable faction of the crime family in the 1980s and 1990s,” Capeci said.

Is Capeci wrong about this?
______________

Hamilton trafficking convictions tied to rare Mafia initiation ceremony secretly videotaped by a police informant
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/1 ... rmant.html

[johnny_scootch]

If Violi is with Buffalo why would he induct someone into the Bonannos?

Damiano Zummo a Bonanno member conducted the ceremony not Violi.

[Snakes]

If Violi is with Buffalo why would he induct someone into the Bonannos?

Damiano Zummo a Bonanno member conducted the ceremony not Violi.

Ah, okay. Thanks for that.

[antimafia]

Hamilton community leaders vouch for drug-dealing mobsters

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/violi-1.4933813

[antimafia]

Quick question regarding the Jane's Intelligence Review report by Anna Sergi.

Part of it reads:

Since approximately 2013, according to sources in the NYPD speaking to Jane's on 16 April, US authorities have observed a "shift towards Calabrian management, primarily in the rankings of the Gambino and Genovese families; these people have always been here...but they now can raise to a position of power." This has been the case most notably since 2014, when Operation New Bridge - a joint FBI-Italian project - uncovered a drug-trafficking network importing cocaine to Europe and heroin to the US. This network was headed by Calabrian mafia clans, using Gambino affiliates tasked with debt collection and money laundering and Genovese associates handling the actual movement of drugs.

Did she get mixed up here? Operation New Bridge involved the Gambino and Bonanno families, not the Genovese, if I'm not mistaken.

If the reported rise of Calabrian leadership is based on that case, would it be the Gambinos and Bonannos then? And who are they talking about specifically?

Sergi did get mixed up here, and I think I know the reason (not that I'm trying to defend her here). She has researched other joint transatlantic investigations that involved US-Italy law-enforcement collaboration and she sees the Genovese and Gambino Families as having the most connections to 'ndrangheta members in New York City. For example, in her and Anita Lavorgna's ‘Ndrangheta: The Glocal Dimensions of the Most Powerful Italian Mafia (2016), they wrote the following on p. 80 (italics you see below are in the book; the caret symbol, ^, represents my attempt to show superscript footnotes):

Operations Columbus I and II represent the direct continuation of Operations Solares II,^12 which revealed an international drug ring scheme run in partnerships between the Schirripa family clan in NYC and in the East coast in the province of Reggio Calabria, and the Gulf Cartel in Mexico. Operations Solares and Columbus have in common not only the Latin America/North America/Calabria axis, but also the involvement in the investigations of brokers directly operating to ease off the partnerships with the Mexican groups. Since 2008, together with the Schirripa clan, the NY-based brokers had sought protection and support from the Cosa Nostra Genovese clan in NYC and to a lesser extent from the Lucchese and Gambino families too.
____________

Earlier on pp. 77 and 78, the authors wrote:

On 11 February 2014, Operation New Bridge^8 led to the arrest of 26 people for membership of an unlawful association finalised to cross-border drug trafficking, money laundering, and mafia association charges. Eighteen arrests were carried out by the Italian authorities in Calabria, and eight arrests by the FBI and the US Department of Justice in New York City (NYC). In the documents related to Operation New Bridge in both countries, the most significant element is the clarification of the relationship between members of the Gambino mafia family in NYC and the ‘ndrangheta members belonging to the clans Ursino and Simonetta, from the East coast of the Reggio Calabria province.
____________

If you or anyone else is interested in her views about the Five Families and the collaboration that some of those families have with the 'ndrangheta, you should read the translation of an Italian-language article/interview published in June of this year some 12 days after her June 5 article that has been discussed a lot on this forum. I strongly disagree with what she wrote regarding the Greater Toronto Area Siderno Group and the Port of Montreal. Here's the link to the article:

http://www.larivieraonline.com/nelle-fi ... erno-group

Here's the Google Translate link:

https://translate.google.ca/translate?s ... erno-group

[Wiseguy]

Quick question regarding the Jane's Intelligence Review report by Anna Sergi.

Part of it reads:

Since approximately 2013, according to sources in the NYPD speaking to Jane's on 16 April, US authorities have observed a "shift towards Calabrian management, primarily in the rankings of the Gambino and Genovese families; these people have always been here...but they now can raise to a position of power." This has been the case most notably since 2014, when Operation New Bridge - a joint FBI-Italian project - uncovered a drug-trafficking network importing cocaine to Europe and heroin to the US. This network was headed by Calabrian mafia clans, using Gambino affiliates tasked with debt collection and money laundering and Genovese associates handling the actual movement of drugs.

Did she get mixed up here? Operation New Bridge involved the Gambino and Bonanno families, not the Genovese, if I'm not mistaken.

If the reported rise of Calabrian leadership is based on that case, would it be the Gambinos and Bonannos then? And who are they talking about specifically?

Sergi did get mixed up here, and I think I know the reason (not that I'm trying to defend her here). She has researched other joint transatlantic investigations that involved US-Italy law-enforcement collaboration and she sees the Genovese and Gambino Families as having the most connections to 'ndrangheta members in New York City. For example, in her and Anita Lavorgna's ‘Ndrangheta: The Glocal Dimensions of the Most Powerful Italian Mafia (2016), they wrote the following on p. 80 (italics you see below are in the book; the caret symbol, ^, represents my attempt to show superscript footnotes):

Operations Columbus I and II represent the direct continuation of Operations Solares II,^12 which revealed an international drug ring scheme run in partnerships between the Schirripa family clan in NYC and in the East coast in the province of Reggio Calabria, and the Gulf Cartel in Mexico. Operations Solares and Columbus have in common not only the Latin America/North America/Calabria axis, but also the involvement in the investigations of brokers directly operating to ease off the partnerships with the Mexican groups. Since 2008, together with the Schirripa clan, the NY-based brokers had sought protection and support from the Cosa Nostra Genovese clan in NYC and to a lesser extent from the Lucchese and Gambino families too.
____________

Earlier on pp. 77 and 78, the authors wrote:

On 11 February 2014, Operation New Bridge^8 led to the arrest of 26 people for membership of an unlawful association finalised to cross-border drug trafficking, money laundering, and mafia association charges. Eighteen arrests were carried out by the Italian authorities in Calabria, and eight arrests by the FBI and the US Department of Justice in New York City (NYC). In the documents related to Operation New Bridge in both countries, the most significant element is the clarification of the relationship between members of the Gambino mafia family in NYC and the ‘ndrangheta members belonging to the clans Ursino and Simonetta, from the East coast of the Reggio Calabria province.
____________

If you or anyone else is interested in her views about the Five Families and the collaboration that some of those families have with the 'ndrangheta, you should read the translation of an Italian-language article/interview published in June of this year some 12 days after her June 5 article that has been discussed a lot on this forum. I strongly disagree with what she wrote regarding the Greater Toronto Area Siderno Group and the Port of Montreal. Here's the link to the article:

http://www.larivieraonline.com/nelle-fi ... erno-group

Here's the Google Translate link:

https://translate.google.ca/translate?s ... erno-group

Hey, thanks antimafia for the info.

[antimafia]

^^^^
You're welcome.

I don't have anywhere near enough knowledge to know which members of the Genoveses, Gambinos, and Bonannos would be tightest with 'ndrangheta members in NYC. Sergi would have read the Italian-language documents regarding Operation New Bridge--she even references them in her and Lavorgna's book--so perhaps the names of American LCN members are in those documents? I'll take a look over at Scribd.com just because now I'm curious. If I don't find anything, I'll e-mail her.

[antimafia]

We may have some more information about where, more precisely, the Bonanno induction ceremony of Vincenzo Morena took place in Canada in November 2015. Antonio Nicaso writes in an opinion piece that was published in today's Globe and Mail:

In November of 2017, police arrested Domenico Violi, a Hamilton father and salesman, on drug-trafficking charges. Mr. Violi’s trial exploded his reputation: Courts heard that he had told an undercover agent that he had been promoted to underboss of the Buffalo-based Todaro crime family -– “the No. 2 man in charge of the 'whole thing,’” he said in an audio recording –- one of the North American Mafia families often referred to as La Cosa Nostra.

In Mr. Violi’s own words, he and his crime family were taking over the whole city of Hamilton with the bikers. He had participated in an initiation ceremony that took place in a Hamilton hotel in the presence of a representative of the Bonanno crime family from New York, in an effort to solidify relations with American families....

Source: From made-up to ‘made’ men: How myths keep the Mafia’s culture frozen in time /via @globeandmail https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion ... ure-frozen

I am concerned that Nicaso's wording may make readers mistakenly think that the initiation ceremony Domenico Violi "had participated in" was Violi's, rather than Morena's.

If you read the rest of the second paragraph above, you will probably disagree with what Nicaso wrote about Vito Rizzuto's wanting to create an independent mafia in Canada--I don't mind or care if any posters here want to discuss the merits of that argument, as I don't necessarily agree with it.

[B.]

In Mr. Violi’s own words, he and his crime family were taking over the whole city of Hamilton with the bikers. He had participated in an initiation ceremony that took place in a Hamilton hotel in the presence of a representative of the Bonanno crime family from New York, in an effort to solidify relations with American families....[/i]

Source: From made-up to ‘made’ men: How myths keep the Mafia’s culture frozen in time /via @globeandmail https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion ... ure-frozen

I am concerned that Nicaso's wording may make readers mistakenly think that the initiation ceremony Domenico Violi "had participated in" was Violi's, rather than Morena's.

The bolded text implies the reason why Violi attended a Bonanno ceremony despite being a Buffalo member, but is that based on something Violi said on the tapes, from Morena's recordings, or is it just pure speculation from Nicaso? At this point it is clear that Violi was a Buffalo member attending a Bonanno ceremony, so I suppose the reason is only a minor detail at this point.

Thanks for keeping us up to date.

[antimafia]

^^^^
Nicaso interjected his opinion, and while we have all been speculating about the Violi brothers’ presence at the Bonanno induction ceremony—and many of us may even agree with Nicaso—I just wish everyone, including experts, would simply say or write they don’t know the answer to a question.