Vito thanks for reminding or more likely informing Benny that Quebec arrested nearly every Hells Angels in the province in the 2000s and are arrested more commonly than any Mafia guys are. Don't boost his ego when he obviously knows very little and just piggy backs off of others posts and regurgitates the same basic takes repeated about Canada.
much to dissect here.
-there are indeed multiple crime groups operating in montreal that is correct. but which one of these said groups aside from HA and MAFIA has same level of power and influence. the street gangs cannot even go a month without shooting at each other over a diss in a youtube video. the blue and red affiliated gangs not only shoot at each other but often commit crimes against there own clics. blue vs. blue, blue vs.red, red vs. whoever. there is no comparison there. who else to look to then? west end gang? in the historical sense of the WEG they do not exist anymore. the WEG were only ever a very loose group of organized criminals who sometimes worked together on certain crimes. not all WEG were involved in mass imports of drugs through the port of MTL. very few infact. bank robbers, safe crackers, loan collectors for hire etc you name it. however the WEG does not exist anymore in this context.
2) -what would be a better bond than surviving years of mob war a la L. RIZZUTO AND S.SOLLECITO? and you could toss in many more names to that list of survivors. i think we have to look at the MTL MAFIA very differently than any other city as i have already said previous. after VITO RIZZUTOS death there was no longer a BOSS in the sense that most think. it is alleged that after 2005 death of VINCENT GIGANTE that the genovese DID NOT HAVE AN OFFICIAL BOSS. daniel leo was only ever indicted as acting boss. there is proof of acting panels put in place after leos 2006/2007 indictment to run the family. these panels are alleged to have existed up to 2010 death and then release of liborio bellomo. so for 5 years the possibility exists that the oft glossed "ivy league of the mafia" had no official boss. the genovese leaders or gigante before his death appointed a small influential group of senior capos to run family a very similar situation took place in MTL MAFIA after death of V.R. a major difference of course being that MTL MAFIA also teamed up with MTL HA chapter and street gangs allied to gregory wooley to maintain total control.
3) -and why do all mafia families in north america have to operate in the exact same way from top to bottom? there is no commission rules stating this and i am of the belief the commission if it exists means ZERO to MTL MAFIA members.
4) how can anyone say we dont know? has anyone read any of articles written by journalists from the journal de mtl, la presse, tva ? they are full of information spelling out the current structure. it may not be accepted by some or the proper formal structure but it is what it is.
5) this is info from la presse article dated sept.23 2019 by daniel renaud. renauds knowledge on oc affairs in mtl is beyond reproach.
some key quotes and statements from said article. i will add unlike burnsteins rather dubious "reporting" lately renaud gives names of law enforcement for quotes. i know what an odd thing to do as a journalist. also these are pulled direct from article (with some paraphrasing) they ARE NOT MY HYPOTHETICALS OR GUESSES. i will post links to these after go ahead and re check.
-the mafia and HA are the 2 most powerful groups in city with other groups gravitating mostly towards them.
-structure= HA/MAFIA with 20 individuals, groups and clans working with 6 decision makers.
-the HA it is clear has a hierarchy, not all members have same influence.
-structure of MTL OC/MAFIA IS NO LONGER PYRAMIDAL, SINCE THE END OF THE SICILIANS, BUT CELLULAR. MAFIA NO LONGER HAS A GODFATHER OR A LEADERSHIP TABLE.
-the police no longer systemically speak of traditional italian oc, but now of italian oc. the traditional word has been evacuated.
-the concept of men of honor no longer exists. today the lure of profit is proof of everything.
-NO BELIEF THAT MAFIA WILL CHOOSE A NEW GODFATHER IN SHORT TO MID TERM. one reason being they make money anyway.
-belief that mafia is still in a period of transition, that one of its groups could in the future assert itself.
decision makers
1.mario brouillette
2.martin robert
3.stephan plouffe
4.salvatore cazzetta
5.salvatore brunetti
(my question here as article fails to give 6th name)
other important names:
giuseppe focarazzo-alleged to be direct link between HA MTL chapter and SICILIAN CLAN (name ref'd to old vito rizzuto led family)
THE SICILIAN CLAN
-composed of members of 2nd and 3rd generation of eastablished mafia families. clan is still most influential of the MTL MAFIA.
leaders
1.leonardo rizzuto
2.stefano sollecito
3.liborio cuntrera
4.vito salvaggio
5.nicola spagnolo
(my note the above description fits 4 of 5 leaders to a tee aside from the enigma vito salvaggio)
-rizzuto/sollecito considered acting bosses (2015). the police no longer affix this label to them.
davide barberio
-believed should the need arise be able to contact vittorio mirarchi.
vittorio mirarchi
-in control of some illegal sports betting in mtl. mirarchi clan is currently independent of other mafia clans and bikers, but has strong support from a mafia family in ontario.
(my question? who is this mafia family from ontario. often repeated without any proof or evidence and long a bone of contention on here amongst many as to the origins of mirarchis power and influence)
west end gang
-no longer exists according to police.
calabrian cell
-former members of cotroni clan who rallied to rizzutos after the latter came to power in the early 1980's has steadily diminished. some have retired or sold off businesses to emerging clans. last members of cell would be protected by salvatore brunetti. if there is any succession within this clan it would no longer have any affinity with the SICILIANS.
(my note this part about calabrians is very important and should put to rest finally any question about remaining cotroni,dimaulo,gallo, volpato influence in city. the last 2 being protected are presumably antonio mucci and carmine antonio vanelli)
antonio pietrantonio
-protected now by martin robert.
agostino-albanese clan
-tobacco smuggling, paying tax to VIOLI clan to whom they are loyal.
(my note..an overlooked mention to a cell of the buffalo mafia operating in montreal. if dom violi is UB and these guys are paying a tax thats the ball game no?)
annunziata family
-sons would be very close to liborio cuntrera and salvatore cazzetta.
(my note...another puzzler here. i scoured the deep dark recesses of google and can find one annunziata in montreal or quebec for that matter and nothing points to luigi annunziata being aa associate of mafia or anything close.)
alot to take in i get it but the info is there to read. at first myself in 2019 it was not the picture of the MAFIA that i had in my head but if taken for the value of information that it is and applied to figuring out goings on in montreal it makes it easier and clearer to understand. it may not be yer grandads mafia or even yer dads but it is a mafia top to bottom structure or not.
more to follow and link.
2) We do have to look at it differently as other cities with Mafia Families because Montreal never had one. It was a Bonanno crew that was a nexus between other independent or semi independent Italian crime groups. Part of this Bonanno crew might have broken off from the Bonanno Family at some point but it's clear at least some part of it came into conflict with the Bonanno Family.
There is no evidence Vito Rizzuto was ever considered a official Boss/CapoMafia/Rappresentante or that any of the people you named and are commonly called Capo/Captain/Capodecina/Caporegime ever held those positions. We can debate it back and forth but the fact of the matter is no public information has shown this and if by chance I have missed it so have all you since no one has shown it. There's no recordings testimony or anything of the sort.
Mafia Families have a history of not electing or confirming a Boss as soon as the previous one steps down or passes away.
3) It's the how the structure has been for 100+ years. The Commission could mean zero to the Montreal Mafia if they are no longer LCN.
4) This has never been about what the structure is. No one has said we don't know who the leaders are and aren't able to identify other cells. All I ever said is we don't know what organization any of them belong to or if they are just Italian criminals.
The leaders and people who have more clout than others are known but we don't know the exact structure of these cells and none of these articles have provided it. The question of what these guys are hasn't been answered.
5) If the police no long speak of traditional italian organized crime but now of just Italian organized crime that sounds a lot like they don't belong to any organization so couldn't be a official Mafia Family. I won't say the statement ends the debate because they don't say what that actually means but it sounds like it's just Italian criminals. It also gets confusing when Daniel Renaud in later articles has used traditional Italian organized crime to refer to the present day. There's a lot of contradictions in the coverage of organized crime in Montreal that aren't always the authors fault as it comes from the police but it happens often.
You also misread about the Agostino-Albanese clan being loyal to Dom Violi. It said to which they were loyal at the time of the domination of the Calabrians in Montreal. This is talking about when Vic Cotroni was Captain and Paolo Violi was Acting Captain of the Bonanno crew not current days. Domenico Agostino and his cousin Franco Albanese could of been paying a tax for their tobacco smuggling ring because it was coming through the Buffalo border or some other arrangement. This doesn't make them a cell of the Buffalo Mafia. Pat Musitano in the late 2000s and 2010s was collecting tax on all drug dealers operating in the Hamilton and Niagara region. It didn't make anyone paying that tax a cell of the Buffalo Mafia too.
The Annunziata cell refers to what I think are brothers Michel and Luigi Annunziata. They appear on the chart of different cells that Furio From Naples shared here with all the names written out that someone did on the other forum. There isn't much on them and they don't have criminal records. They are close to Salvatore Cazzetta and came up in Project Machine.
The article you shared is dated the most recent articles we have that give a outline of the structure and alliances are from 2021 and they're dated themselves. They still highlight a Mafia and biker alliance but with some different names.
The first was July 11 2021 Daniel Renaud wrote about the Montreal Hells Angels taking up more space and Martin Robert and Stephane Plouffe being in the center of this network between the various cells. Also says the Sicilians are losing power.
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/...e-la-garde-au-sein-du-crime-organise.phpThe second came on October 27 2021 and Felix Seguin wrote about the Rizzutos AKA Sicilians becoming the most powerful group again in Quebec. He names Stefano Sollecito Leonardo Rizzuto Vito Salvaggio and Liborio Cuntrera as co leaders and Francesco Del Balso as a financer. Martin Robert Stephane Plouffe Salvatore Cazzetta and Giles Lambert are labeled as associates of them.
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/10/08/le-clan-mafieux-rizzuto-est-de-retour-en-forceThe third article was written on December 27 2021 and Daniel Renaud writes the new Mafia and Biker table is made up of Martin Robert Stéphane Plouffe Marco Pizzi Davide Barberio and Erasmo Crivello. But another source says other people sit at the table depending on the situation. This one looks to be much more fluid then any of the others. Daniel Renaud also writes Gregory Wooley has returned to the fold with the Hells Angels
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/...se-montrealais/la-nouvelle-normalite.phpAll of this is very different today. Davide Barberio was shot in October 2021 and I don't know if this has changed his standing in the current power structure. Francesco Del Balso was targeted in October 2022 and possibly in January 2023. Leonardo Rizzuto was shot in March 2023. Stefano Sollecito is sick and reportedly stepped back. Salvatore Cazzetta is no longer a member of the Montreal Hells Angels first reports said he was expelled from the club but a separate report said he wasn't allowed to wear his cutte for a few months and then made to join the South chapter.
