The Mafia in Canada

I guess I have a few questions about how the notable members of Cosa Nostra fit in.

1- Was John Papalia considered a capo in the Buffalo family or a soldier? How many made men would've been in his crew in Hamilton at its peak? I guess the fact that he operated a crew in a foreign country gives him some sort of further notoriety than usual?

2- Same question only with Paul Volpe.

3- Is the Rizzuto Crime Family its own independent family or is it an offshoot of the Bonnanos? I'm confused whether Vito is a member of the Bonnanos or whether that family is separate.

IIRC, Papalia was a captain and Volpe was never more than a soldier. As for the 3rd question I think they were still officially part of the Bonanno's but were trying to distance themselves more and more since Sciascia was whacked. MOntanga and whoever was backing him did not approve of their desired independence.

While I'll try and answer the questions to the best of my own personal knowledge this is in no way stating this as legitimate facts so take what I say with a grain of salt. I'm sure others will comment who have a better understanding.

As far as I'm aware to answer your first question, Papalia would have been a Captain to Buffalo but at the same time, he would have been a Mob boss in Canada. I haven't found exact numbers about how many made members he'd have but I suspect only a small amount, maybe hovering in the 20's, maybe less. Only from stories I hear living around the area, Papalia was a pretty prominent figure within Southern Ontario's organized crime world. He's one of the top few that if you're going to know about, you'll know him.

As for Volpe, many suspect he was not a boss or a full-fledged captain, he was just a soldier looking out for Buffalo interests in Toronto. Volpe was considered the laughing stock of the Canadian Underworld after he was caught on tape twice talking about the Mob. I'm under the impression that Volpe would have had no made men working under him.

The Rizzuto's are their own family operating in Canada. While there is no doubt they have connections with the Bonanno's, it must be noted that they were deemed officially independent in 1999. Whether or not they were before hand or after is up for speculation. Vito is only considered as a soldier by FBI Officials but Canadian Officials disagree.

Again, I like to stress that this is the information I know from the top of my head. There could be others on the forum that have an in depth knowledge and are more suitable to answer.

Hey there, I'll give short and sweet answers, I'm sure very soon someone else will go into more detail and probably correct the things I have to say.
1- Johnny Pops was a capo, Hamilton fell under the power of Buffalo, he was the "boss" in the sense that the actual boss was more of an absentee landlord. In terms of his strength in ranks, I have no clue. Nor do I think anyone really does except the cops on that beat.
2-Paul Volpe, the Fox, he was an interesting man. There is a link to a documentary on him on my Topic called Toronto Mafia. It'll answer all your questions.
3- It was an offshoot, until Vito Rizzuto's man in New York was murdered on the orders of Massino, things began to drift after that. Some say the recent violence has been New York trying to drag the organization back under its influence. I mean they offered Vito the position of Capo. Vito Rizzuto. A Capo. Its almost insulting, considering the power he held. He refused, continuing his defiance. It would make sense, Montreal gangsters have been seeing far more success than its counterparts in New York.

The original Cotroni regime was very much the Montreal crew of the Bonannos. The Rizzutos were aligned with the Bonannos but ran a separate operation with close ties to Sicily. Vito Rizzuto was also part of the Bonanno family along with the remnants of the Cotroni group.

theres one thing i dont understand. vito was seen the godfather of montreal for ages but then sciascia, was on paper, stonger then rizzutos for being a captain?

Canada

Province of Quebec
Cotroni crime family - the Calabrian faction in Montreal, Canada
Rizzuto crime family - the Sicilian faction in Montreal, Canada
[BadWord]-Caruana Mafia clan - a Sicilian clan operatiing in Montreal, Canada with operations in Venezuela and Brazil.

Province of Ontario

In Northern and Southern Ontario there are two types of Italian organized crime Cosa Nostra and 'Ndrangheta.
There are seven 'Ndrangheta clans operating in the Greater Toronto Area.
Buffalo crime family - a "Cosa Nostra" family, based in Buffalo, New York is active in Hamilton and Southern Ontario.

Siderno Group - includes clans (crime families) that are part of the Commisso 'ndrina, some of these clans are:

Coluccio clan - led by Antonio Coluccio, and his imprisoned brother Giuseppe Coluccio
Commisso clan - led by Cosimo Commisso, and his imprisoned father Antonio Commisso
Figliomeni clan - led by Angelino Figliomeni
Figliomeni clan - led by Cosimo Figliomeni
DeMaria clan - led by Vincenzo "Jimmy" DeMaria
Ruso clan - led Domenic Ruso
Tavernese clan - led by Vincenzo Tavernese

Musitano crime family - based in Hamilton

ive been wondering about the buffalo crime family with regards to thier present day operations in southern ontario lately. how much is actually left,what crews if any ect?

Thought there extinct the buffalo family?

The Rizzutos got a free hand in running their own operation because Sciascia was a Rizzuto loyalist. The Sciascias were also part of the Rizzuto-Manno-Cammalleri clan just as the Rizzutos.

However, I also believe in what the writers of Mafia Inc. have stated; that the Rizzutos continued having ties to the Bonannos after Sciascia was killed, contrary to what many others seem to think.

As far as being a formally structured, viable family, they are.

in toronto there are sicilians too, arcuri, scarcella and other caruanas

anyone have a chart or know the numbers of the made man of canadian mafia and ndrangheta ?

well rizzuto family or the bonanno crew had 19 made men according to the book Mafia Inc but dont know bout the other clans

There are about 40 "known" 'Ndrangheta members active in Toronto, and 20-30 in Hamilton. And there are another 20 "man of honor" in Montreal, but I'm not sure if these were the members of the Bonanno crew or of the Rizzuto-Manno family. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the term man of honor usually refers to Sicilian mafiosi is it not? And there are ofcourse also Sicilian made members operating in Ontario.

I'm now reading parts of Iced - The Story of Organized Crime in Canada by Stephen Schneider in which he states that a dozen men (probably made members) answered directly to John Papalia. So this was a normal sized crew.

Mob muscle: 'Wiseguys use violence as a means to an end ... and that goal is always to make money'

http://nationalpost.com/wcm/bd7debfa-6469-4f2f-8d32-38d06fb9a7c8