Certain members of it are still active. They never claimed the entity as a whole is active, only that certain members of the family were arrested. That doesn't mean the organization or the entity as a whole is active. There are numerous examples of guys, even made, from defunct families that continue to operate independently long after the family has ceased to exist.

The Musitanos murdered the capo and top second-in-command of the Todaro crime family's Canadian crew (the Papalia crew) in 1997 and there was no immediate retribution from the Papalias. The Luppinos, despite once being close to the Todaros, were also a separate faction vying for power.

Yes, and the double murder in 1997 proves that the Musitanos were able to dismantle the Todaro crime family's control in Canada, and then (most likely) take over the valuable drug connection the Papalias owned.


No. It refers to members of the Todaro crime family in Canada. Guys that were made before 1997. Think about it. The Papalias were "dead as charity" by 1997, and to the victor goes the spoils. It makes sense that former Papalia members would have worked alongside, or partnered their lucrative rackets, with the powerful Musitanos or Luppinos.

Probably.

There are probably guys from up north in Buffalo to facilitate things. Or maybe the Todaro-Papalia members, now partnering with the GTA families, have caught up with Todaro guys in Buffalo to help out on behalf of the outfits that took over the decimated Papalia clan.

The Todaro crime family was never able to control or utilize the drug trade like other families in America or even the families up north.

The Musitanos wiped out the Buffalo's crew in Canada with the double-murder of Papalia and his top lieutenant. There was no subsequent gang war on behalf of Buffalo or the Papalias. So it's most likely Canadian associates helping facilitate things down there.


I agree.

The feds were able to wipe them out. The mafia in WNY did not have the same sort of power that other families in New York and New Jersey had. In Magaddino's era they certainly did though. The lucrative power-bases they did have (the UNIONS in particular) were very successfully wiped out by the feds, meaning that the Buffalo mob family lost its prized rackets, and had not utilized other rackets like drugs or gambling to the extent that NY families had. Last year's Buffalo News article analyses the many reasons why the Buffalo mob is no more, citing feds, prosecutors, mob experts, DAs, etc.

Yes. But as we have seen, the Musitanos cut the heads off Buffalo's Canadian operation and there was no resistance.

There is quite possibly a small but organized Canadian presence in Buffalo to facilitate the drug trade. The Todaro crime family is not a Canadian GTA family. It had a crew in Canada, which was eliminated by the Musitanos.

Wait... what? You've really lost me there...
Why would Adam Cohen concede the mob in WNY is dead, if he is hoping that they get caught? That's a pretty big lie to uphold. Remember that most news outlets, including the Buffalo News, have LE sources on the inside that leak information (generally information that the FBI doesn't mind leaking, but still).
Also, denying the existence of a Mafia can only hurt future cases. I don't think that the feds have ever used the strategy of denying an organization crime group exists, whilst trying to make a case against them. It's a counter-productive move.
Also, the Buffalo News and the Niagara Falls Reporter have never patted themselves on the back for ridding WNY of the mafia. The feds did that themselves. It wasn't the Buffalo News that pressured the feds to go after the Buffalo mob, and the Buffalo News has never claimed otherwise. The feds in Buffalo followed the trend in the rest of the country to go after the mafia, and the media followed.

EDIT: This comment is only responding to the one comment Nickle City made. I haven't read the rest of the thread yet, so bear with me.