https://torontosun.com/news/national/gangland-canada-will-renewed-montreal-mayhem-spread-to-gta

Will renewed Montreal mayhem spread to GTA?
Published Mar 19, 2023 • Last updated 20 hours ago • 4 minute read

“And dat’s dat.” — Vinnie (Charles Scorsese), GoodFellas

That was the general feeling among underworld observers when Pasquale “Fat Pat” Musitano was rubbed out in the parking lot of a Burlington patio furniture store in July 2020.

The hit ended three years of internecine gangland warfare between rival factions for control of lucrative southern Ontario dope and gambling markets.

But there was much more: Fellow mobsters didn’t like or trust Musitano, a Mafioso nepo baby who overplayed his hand in the 1997 Hamilton hit on underworld paragon Johnny Papalia.

And by the end of that scorching day in 2020, not only was Fat Pat on his way to the morgue, but so was the Musitano crime family.

The rubout of Musitano immediately dialled back the violence that claimed at least a dozen men and one innocent woman.

Nearly three years later, there are stirrings in the organized crime milieu.

Those rumblings are the result of a brazen afternoon hit on mob scion Leonardo Rizzuto, 53, in the Montreal suburb of Laval. The reputed Mafia leader survived the attempt on his life but it could bring ill-tidings to the underworld in Quebec — and Ontario.

At least six bullets were fired at the Mercedes GLE 53 Rizzuto was in.

“When Montreal gets the sniffles, Toronto gets a cold,” Mafia expert Antonio Nicaso told The Toronto Sun.

“Usually, they want to stay under the radar. Violence is very dangerous to their business and normally they will try to avoid any form of violence at all costs.”

Leonardo Rizzuto’s famed father was longtime Montreal boss Vito Rizzuto. Nicaso and others have said junior wasn’t a big player in gangland, but his last name is highly symbolic.

The drug-fueled and heat attracting antics of Montreal North caused concern for mob boss Nicola Rizzuto, pictured, and his Irish allies.
“He is the son of Vito Rizzuto, the target of a shooting … it shows revenge doesn’t have a statute of limitations,” the Queen’s University professor said.

The crime family had split into two factions following the death from cancer of Vito Rizzuto in 2013. And then, the bodies began hitting the pavement.

But as Nicaso noted, bloodbaths are expensive and soon, an uneasy peace took hold. A peace that was fuelled by staggering profits, more than enough for everyone.

“Leonardo Rizzuto was not very active but he had people around him who were loyal to his father. But it appears certain wounds do not heal,” Nicaso added.

And there will be repercussions in Ontario, where peace has bolstered the bottom line.

“Criminal organizations are always more profitable — and dangerous — when they fly under the radar,” Nicaso said. “Canada is a perfect place for them: Complacent politicians and businessmen … it’s a perfect situation.”

However, with new challenges and potential revenue streams, the Mafia maven said sometimes violence is “inevitable.”

As for the mob’s traditional rackets, Nicaso doesn’t believe the legalization of cannabis has hurt the underworld at all. Nor have they taken a hit from legalized gambling.

He said in some areas, mobsters own cannabis dispensaries and supply them with much stronger, illegal weed. Plus, synthetic drugs like deadly Fentanyl are where the money’s at.

Nicaso said that for a $1,500 investment, 1 million tablets can be made and then sold for $5 a pop, resulting in a profit of $5 million.

And online betting? Boffo bucks for the bad guys.

Longtime underworld watcher and author James Dubro agreed that Leonardo Rizzuto was not a particularly powerful mob boss.

He believes Calabrian gangsters and members of Ontario’s many N’drangheta cells are looking to settle scores.

“Montreal is always a battleground. After all, it’s the red zone for organized crime in Canada,” Dubro told the Sun.

That doesn’t mean because Musitano is out of the way that the Mafia is inactive in southern Ontario.

Dubro noted Buffalo crime family underboss Domenico Violi is now back on the streets after being jailed in a monster drug trafficking investigation. Now on parole, Dubro said he is “clearly on the ascent.”

And he has long had a bone to pick with the Rizzutos who backed the Musitano crime family in their criminal machinations over decades.

“So quiet is relative,” Dubro said. “There’s always competition and rivalries in the biker and Mafia worlds, either open [with violence] or just under the surface.”

He added: “It’s the nature of the beast, but with ‘Fat Pat’ and his ragtag family more or less gone it is quieter — for now. But there is a lot simmering under the surface.

“We have no lack of very ambitious and often very violent N’drangheta bosses like the Violis in Ontario.”

Nicaso added: “The Rizzuto hit is one of those events that can have terrifying consequences. Someone was emboldened to do this during a truce … they have been working together. That truce ended a long string of murders.”

“Someone has opened a Pandora’s Box in Montreal. There will be repercussions, especially in Ontario, and many things could happen. I mean, you’ve just tried to kill the son of Vito Rizzuto.”

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun