https://www.lapresse.ca/dossiers/op...9-guerre-de-clans-evitee-de-justesse.phpClan war narrowly avoided
A Granby family used threats and intimidation for two years to recover $900,000 from leaders of the Rizzuto clan, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have learned during their investigation into the Sicilian Mafia. The conflict almost degenerated into a bloody war.
In a 131-page document accompanying its requests for search warrants, the RCMP recounts this episode in detail, under the title The organization (the Rizzuto clan) experiences a conflict with the D'Amico family of Granby. In January 2004, the chief of the clan, Vito Rizzuto, was arrested at the request of the Americans who accused him of having been involved in a triple murder on behalf of the Bonnano family of New York. His lieutenant, Francesco Arcadi, takes the lead. A month later, Luigi D'Amico telephoned him from his son's restaurant, La Trattoria Saint-Charles, in Granby, to make an appointment.
Late in the afternoon, hidden RCMP cameras reveal the presence of Arcadi, Luigi d'Amico and his son Tiziano in the back office of the Le Consenza social club, which serves as the clan's headquarters. Rizzuto, in Saint-Leonard. We don't know what the men said to each other. But in August 2005, Arcadi explains to a sidekick that the "bikers" of Granby wanted to "cut off his head". He adds that Luigi d'Amico came to him and begged him to meet his other son, Patrizio. Arcadi refused.
Kidnapping
In the same chapter, the RCMP recalls the circumstances of the kidnapping, on Halloween night, of Nicola Varacalli, a man from the Rizzuto clan, close to Francesco Arcadi. The police do not know who the kidnappers are. But it seems that these kidnapped Varacalli to send a message to the Rizzuto clan. Anyway, Arcadi “mentions that in truth he is scared and keeps his eyes open.” He says "there's no more money there, just leftovers."
Negotiations continue with the kidnappers. The RCMP captures a multitude of conversations. Thus, in the Laennec bar, another haunt of the Rizzuto clan in Laval, an Arcadi henchman, Lorenzo Giordano, mentions the name of Patrizio D'Amico, which he associates with the "Frenchmen" (the Hells Angels). He suggests paying half a million dollars now and $400,000 later when Varacalli is released.
A few days after this conversation, Luca D'Amico, Patrizio's cousin, walks into Le Consenza and comes out almost immediately. He delivered a letter to Arcadi, addressed to Nick Rizzuto, Vito's father. Arcadi reads the letter aloud. Clandestine RCMP microphones pick up much of the reading. The author of the letter “seeks a compromise to a dispute, which he believes only Nick Rizzuto can resolve”. A week later, on December 8,
Varacalli is released
But nothing seems to be settled. Two days before Christmas, Patrizio, Luca D'Amico and a third man enter Le Consenza. One of them carries a weapon. The three men come out of the bar and wave to other drivers. A procession of eight vehicles leaves the place. Arcadi is informed and calls his troops to be careful, because "the crazy guy (Patrizio D'Amico) is around".
Arcadi himself is filmed with a gun to the hip. Bodyguards are posted in front of Le Consenza and inside. They accompany the chefs on their travels. Nick Rizzuto, who leads the clan in the absence of his son Vito, brings in four men from Venezuela, most likely killers. It's Patrizio D'Amico's turn to be scared. He advises a relative “to move before they get ready”.
restaurant closed
It is unclear whether and how the conflict was resolved. La Presse tried to reach the D'Amicos, but to no avail. La Trattoria restaurant is closed. The RCMP continues its story by recalling the murder of Domenico Macri, last August, but does not link it to the conflict with the D'Amico family. Arcadi, obviously, feared for his life: he disappeared from circulation for two months. Eager to keep the fort, his henchmen, Francesco Del Balso and Lorenzo Giordano, procured armored vehicles and were accompanied by bodyguards.
The day before Macri's funeral, officers saw three gang members with submachine guns and a pistol in a warehouse garage that served as the Italian clan's weapons cache on Saint-Laurent Boulevard in northern Montreal. A week later, the anti-gang brigade raided the area and seized four high-caliber automatic weapons, magazines, several boxes of bullets and two bullet-proof vests.
The D'Amicos were not arrested, unlike most of the leaders of the Rizzuto clan, starting with Nick, Paolo Renda, Rocco Sollecito, Francesco Arcadi and Francesco Del Balso. An arrest warrant has also been issued against Lorenzo Giordano, but he has not been found since the raid on November 22.