The Family: New details emerge about alleged leader of 500-person organized crime network in Calgary

The man alleged to lead a 500-person criminal organization involved in selling drugs and terrorizing a vulnerable community with violence, including a homicide, was once called a career criminal with a horrendous record by a Calgary judge.

New details about massive drug distribution network The Family and alleged leader Lawrence Orubor have been uncovered by CBC News through court documents, online records, and interviews with people who are either close to the investigation or work with clients of the Calgary Drop-In Centre, where much of the criminal activity took place.

Since Orubor's arrest, staff at the DI, as well as police, have recorded a "notable decrease of violent incidents" in the downtown area, police say.

Orubor, 52, who lives in Calgary's suburbs, has a criminal history dating back more than 30 years in both B.C. and Alberta, with at least 40 convictions on his record.

He now faces seven new charges connected to Operation Bloodline, the six-month police investigation into The Family.

Two weeks ago, he was released on bail.

Homicide connection

The charges faced by Orubor are rare: instructing drug trafficking and violent offences for a criminal organization.

"[Those charges] requires a great deal of investigative rigour to put that before the courts," said Deputy Chief Chad Tawfik at Tuesday's police commission meeting.

If the violence hadn't gotten so intense, perhaps The Family would still be operating under the radar, selling mostly single doses of drugs to addicted, homeless Calgarians.


https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5823960

Old news about street gangs bringing cocaine from Haiti

https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/...3063-des-courges-bourrees-de-cocaine.php

Until recently, street gangs had an accredited accomplice in the most sensitive areas of Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport, who helped organize the importation of cocaine between Haiti and Montreal, believes the RCMP.

This is what reveals a summary of an investigation by the federal police force called Carlingue. The investigation aimed to "determine the degree of internal corruption at Trudeau airport" after the interception of a traveler who was serving as a mule for the transport of drugs in January 2011.
The traveler in question was returning from Port-au-Prince when authorities discovered 2.4 kilograms of cocaine concealed in squash that he had brought back in his luggage.
Compromising email

The man also had on him an iPod Touch in which was recorded an email from a Montreal mechanic from Air Transat.
The email, which had been forwarded through a member of a Montreal street gang, contained a photo of two Air Canada baggage employees at the Port-au-Prince airport.
In another email, the gang member explained to the "mule" that he was going to be given fruit and that the merchandise would be hidden inside. There was no need to worry since this stratagem was used "every two weeks" at Montreal-Trudeau airport, the message said.

After the arrest of the mule, the RCMP police launched the Carlingue investigation and took an interest in the Air Transat mechanic who had provided the photo of the port-au-Prince baggage handlers, possibly to facilitate the boarding of drugs on the plane flying to Montreal.
Linked to criminals

Investigators discovered that the 45-year-old Canadian Forces veteran mechanic had "sex" with a member of the Bo-Gars gang who openly bragged about importing kilos of cocaine at the airport and including a close friend. was arrested in possession of 1.5 kilos of cocaine while returning from Haiti on a humanitarian flight after the 2010 earthquake.
According to the police, the mechanic also had links with another member of a Montreal gang of the “Red” family, the alliance of which the Bo-Gars are part. This other criminal had already been identified as a recruiter of mules to smuggle drugs from Haiti to Montreal.
When they questioned the mechanic, he had difficulty explaining a payment of $ 25,000 that had passed through his account at the time. He also admitted to knowing the mule stopped with the squash.
The police asked him why he phoned a gang member involved in organizing the import 63 times, including 38 times while he was in jail.
The mechanic explained that the individual was the brother of a former girlfriend and that he tried to convince him to quit the crime. As for the photo of the port-au-Prince baggage handlers that he had sent him, it was only a memory crunched during a humanitarian trip after the earthquake.
The evidence gathered during the Carlingue investigation was not strong enough to lay criminal charges, but the case put together by the RCMP still prompted the airport authorities to cancel the mechanic's security clearance, on the pretext that he there was "reason to believe that he is involved in drug trafficking".
The loss of his access to controlled areas of the airport instantly terminated his contract.

Old news from 2004

https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2004/04...aisis-a-laeroport-pierre-elliott-trudeau

RCMP police on Tuesday evening made a major cocaine seizure at Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport in Montreal.
The police got hold of 14 kilograms of drugs from Haiti. Two men have been arrested in connection with this matter.

Bernardo Carvajal, 34, of Longueuil, and Michael Adam Carson, 19, of Montreal, faced charges on Wednesday of conspiracy to import, import and possess cocaine for the purpose of make traffic.

Seizure of 218 kg of cocaine in Montreal from a plane originating in Haiti

A heavy shipment of 218 kilograms of cocaine, worth some $ 27 million, was seized four days ago at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport by the Canada Border Services Agency during a routine operation. The drugs were concealed on a plane from Haiti.

According to Agency spokesperson Bernard Brie, this is one of the largest cocaine seizures to date at this airport.

The file was turned over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; no arrests have yet been made.

In 2004, Agency officers at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport made 201 drug seizures valued at over $ 10 million. The value of the seizure from four days ago alone was nearly three times as high.

Canadian Press, Wednesday January 26, 2005.

http://www.metropolehaiti.com/metropole/full_poli_fr.php?id=9534

This "The Family" thing seems to be a Nigerian operation. It's well know that Nigerian drug traffickers have been making inroads in Calgary.

Yes, look like nigerian groups are starting to get establish in cities like Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. I don’t know how they work over there. They probably work with other groups, like asian gangs, natives gangs and bikers.

Winnipeg is a biker and native gang stronghold. Not easy to make inroads there. Those groups are well established in the city, organized and violent.

Calgary and Edmonton are more "open territory". There is gang activity in those cities, but the gangland over there is not as entrenched and sophisticated.

True, Winnipeg seem more organized than calgary and edmonton.
Gangs from montreal and toronto have alot of operations in calgary and edmonton. Drug trafficking, prostitutions, frauds

Always wondering how montreal gangs could almost work without consequences in cities like calgary and edmonton...

Like the article that I post yesterday, many young gang members (mostly in their 20s) are making money in calgary and edmonton.
Also, some are in toronto

No less than three shootings broke out over the weekend in the boroughs of Montreal-North and Rivière-des-Prairies. These violent events are linked to a conflict between two street gangs.

According to our information, two street gangs, Section 43 and Profits Boyz, are behind this outbreak of violence. This war reminds us that power struggles still plague relations between the various groups affiliated with the Reds.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/ici.rad...usillade-conflit-gangs-rue-montreal-spvm

Former Montrealer serving sentence in Miami for smuggling firearms, while alleged accomplice has court date Monday
Naomi Natal Haynes, the sister of a former Montreal street gang leader, was sentenced to a 7-year prison term in the U.S. in January.

The sister of a former Montreal street gang leader is serving a lengthy prison term in the United States for firearms smuggling, while her alleged accomplice, who was arrested on the Canadian side of the border, has a court date scheduled for Monday in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

Naomi Natal Haynes, 41, is currently behind bars at a federal detention centre in Miami as she continues to serve the seven-year sentence she received in January after she admitted to having purchased firearms from U.S. dealers, falsified documents and then smuggled the guns into Canada.

Haynes is the sister of Roy (Capone) Haynes, 45, the former leader of a Montreal street gang called The Outlaws.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/montrea...6b161da-9b1d-4324-9e38-0c4648cee146/amp/

Murder of Raynald Desjardins' best friend No parole for one of the convicts

Considering his lack of motivation and that the risks of violent recidivism are high, especially if he starts associating with gang members again, the parole commissioners of Canada have refused to grant his parole to Edrick Antoine, sentenced to nine years. imprisonment for plotting the murder of Gaetan Gosselin, committed on January 31, 2013, in Montreal.

Gaetan Gosselin was Raynald Desjardins' best friend and trusted man, and took care of the latter's family, while the boss was detained, awaiting trial for the murder of aspiring godfather Salvatore Montagna .
Gosselin, 69, was killed while taking out his trash after running errands. He was shot dead by an individual who then fled in a car driven by Antoine.
The killers spied on their victim for at least two days. They did not take action the day before because a father and son were walking on the sidewalk as Gosselin returned home.

The assassination of Gaetan Gosselin has always been interpreted by the police as the accomplishment of the revenge of the former godfather of the Montreal mafia, Vito Rizzuto, against Desjardins, whose group was involved in a bloody putsch against the clan of Sicilians in 2009 and 2010.
But in the parole board decision, it is written that Antoine’s case file would indicate that the murder was committed in the context of maintaining control of drug trafficking in a territory.
“You say you learned that a rival gang was angry with you and one of your friends, and that you had no choice but to act if you wanted to stay alive. You saw murder as the only solution. You were comfortable with your involvement in the murder of an individual linked to organized crime, ”the commissioners write in their seven-page decision.
Deported to Canada

We learn that Antoine, 42, was born in Canada, but around the age of 5, he and his family moved to another country. He remained there until he was deported to Canada at the age of 19. His criminal career began two years later. Over the years, he has been charged with drug trafficking, conspiracy, possession of weapons, theft, extortion, threats and obstruction of justice. He was on probation at the time of Gosselin's murder.
The intelligence services identify Antoine as being linked to the street gangs of Red allegiance in the Montreal-North sector, which he admits while denying however being a leader.
Behind bars, Antoine was the subject of disciplinary reports; he allegedly threatened a correctional officer by telling him that he would find him after the end of his sentence, in 2023. Another time, he and co-accused delayed the count of inmates by prolonging their exercises in the gym of the jail. He was then moved from sector.
During the first six months following his conviction for the murder of Gaetan Gosselin, Antoine was placed in protection at the penitentiary because he allegedly had a contract on his head.
He continued to maintain ties with individuals linked to street gangs throughout his detention.
Antoine continued his studies, followed programs and worked in the penitentiary.
During the hearing, he said that his incarceration was the best thing that made him realize his lifestyle. He also said he finds it difficult not to see his family anymore. He added that his incarceration had deterrent effects but that to increase his chances of rehabilitation, he had to stay away from "negative" individuals.
“Your criminal history is acquisitive in nature, making money quickly and easily, with highly criminalized individuals. It demonstrates a deep-rooted, highly criminalized criminal attitude and a search for power to enforce your status within street gangs. At the time of your arrest, you were described as the leader of the red street gangs in Montreal-North, ”write the commissioners, before rejecting his request for release.
Raynald Desjardins, meanwhile, will be released after two-thirds of his sentence, under severe conditions, in the coming days.

https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/...yomBwnGRALdkIunwIgirF5QBEVERkTMoUOETB2SA

Late great Montreal musician Kenny Hamilton on old time pimps, bikers and killers

Kenny Hamilton knew the score.
Hamilton who died on October 12, 2017, was not only an accomplished pop musician but he knew all the grittiest Montreal stories and helped immensely making Montreal 375 Tales that much more interesting.
Hamilton readily chatted about Montreal history until one day he went radio silent.
Here are some snippets from his thoughts:

On being a teenage booker at The Esquire Show Bar on Stanley.

I would sit with bar owner Norm Silver

around 3:30 in the afternoon after school and look at the Billboard R and B chart. He would get me to choose acts for the club. Then he would get his agent Roy Cooper to book those acts I chose into the Esquire. Not all, but a lot. Edwin Starr, The Manhattans, The Isley Brothers (without Hendrix}, Jimmy Ruffin. I knew them because you could see acts on American Bandstand and you would hear their records on the radio.The artists I picked did well in the club. Plus the artists I showed Mr Silver didn't cost as much as Little Richard or Wilson Pickett at that time


***

There were problems in Drummondville and Bagotville with local motorcycle gangs who didn't like girls in the club looking at us. We let them know that we were more than guys with guitars. There would be bloodshed all over the place on both sides if they messed with us.

Desmond
On George Desmond, former boxer shot dead, at 60, in the bathroom of a bar at 1399 St. James Street on 14 Nov. 1987 What I liked about George Desmond: he was dressed and groomed all the time, his Cadillac wasn't new but it was clean. He was never "slack." He was a good looking guy. Flashy clothes, not much education but lots of personality. He had one girl Helen Daley that he got money from but cocaine was his main income. I believe Helen is alive. She was black and not exceptionally pretty but ooh what a body. George Desmond, it is told to me, did a bad dope deal. Someone came to the 99, a Mafia Club owned by Joe Di Paulo and that person and George went into the men's toilet. The guy, either from either Toronto or the USA, pulled a gun and told George either to pay or get shot. George said "If you're gonna shoot, shoot."The bar belonged to Angelo but was in the name of a straight guy. When Angelo died the mob gave the place to Joe DiPaulo. Joe got beaten badly by a guy who's girl Joe got involved with. He never recovered. The clients of the 99 were mostly blacks from the area.

***
On former boxer Lionel Deare: I heard he was a hitman for the West End Gang. He was black and had an apartment on Plamondon and very secretive. I used to go with his daughter for a short time.You must understand I was in music during those years and while I lived among those guys, they were just thorns in my side, trying to get the same pussy I had my eyes on.

**


Chase in 54
On former boxer Charlie Chase There was a tabloid in Montreal called "Midnight." I was walking past a newspaper stand and saw it, and the headline read, KING PIMP ARRESTED. I would see him in the morning at Plaza Cote des Neiges reading his paper. "Hey Kenny" he'd say. He was "punch drunk" by then. My father (who didn't have a criminal record) used to visit Charlie in jail. In the end Charlie wouldn't be nice to his daughters. They wanted to care for him, clean his apartment on Barclay but he wouldn't have anything to do with them. Charlie and my father were very tight. I was at a party in a downtown hotel with girls and musicians when a knock came on the door. It was Charlie and my father. "We're looking for Kenny Hamilton" they said, but they just wanted to see what was going on and what girls were there.

I've had this problem all my life. White people get uncomfortable around me because I'm the kind of ni**er that will talk back.

**

My Mother knew (legendary Montreal pianist) Steep Wade, was he Alfie's dad ? I just remember him as friendly but wanting to be in the "white" community kind of like Bobby White, he wasn't "one of the boys" as far as I'm concerned.
**

On community activist and pimp Bobby White (d. 2016) I didn't start this to make a case for pimps. I'm just saying there's enough blame to go all the way around. Yes there must be abuse in the sex trade and that is inexcusable but Bobby never got a pimping charge put on him. His "friend's" were happy hookers. Bobby's girls did well and stayed off the street. I guess you can't believe some girls enjoy being whores. One of them did perverted things to Real Giguere. At one time I knew him very well, we spoke almost everyday. He had a bar "Whitey's Hideaway." "Local" black guys were barred from the bar. Do you know that he taped almost every telephone conversation that came to his residence? He associated in his bar and on the phone with many prominent Montreal sports figures, television personalities, lawyers, business people. He provided certain "working girls" with contacts who were willing to do business and he provided coke when asked to. But you must ask who were these contacts and also what the "girls" told him about the perverted desire's of these guys during telephone conversations that he played back to me. History won't know their names.

The Hawaiian Lounge on Mountain, west side, south of St. Antoine I was hired to play that place. Scumbags for management, "Big Angelo" and "Little Angelo." There was this lesbian chick singer and MC named Carole Bravall and she didn't like me. One afternoon I get a phone call, "get over to the club RIGHT NOW" !!! I go over and 3 of them were waiting, Joe Di Paulo and the 2 Angelos. We go in the office, they throw a joint on the desk in front of me and began to holler, "YOU SMOKED A JOINT IN THE CLUB LAST NIGHT, AND YOU LEFT THIS IN THE DRESSING ROOM" !!! "YOU WANT TO COST THIS PLACE THE LICENSE ? WE'LL BREAK YOUR FUCKING LEGS!" I calmly looked them in the eye and told them, "Yes, I smoked a joint in the dressing room last night, and when I was finished I flushed it in the toilet. That's not mine, Carole planted it there". They looked at each other and back at me, "YOU'RE FIRED' one of them screamed and I got up and left. "Fuck you white cocksuckers," I said to myself.

Richardson
On killer Bryce Richardson who was badly injured in a shootout he started at the Hawaiian Lounge A guy named Rollie Dash brought him around. He was good looking and wanted a "rep". His brother Jimmy tried to live off that "Richardson rep" and got himself killed on Bishop St.
I know lots of stories like Bryce Richardson shooting (boxer) Elwood "Halifax" Symonds on Stanley St., before he got his. (Symonds survived). I spoke to someone today who says Bryce Richardson doesn't use a wheelchair anymore, just a cane. Couple of guys from the Esquire were around and got to Halifax on the stairs of the club on Stanley that later became The Limelight.. Halifax told them, "Don't worry, I'll make it."

*
On Bryce Richardson killing boxer Robert "Bobby" Croxen at 4311 Old Orchard 11 Aug. 1968 The way I heard it Bobby was stuffed into a trunk. The trunk was too small to get him in so he was "broken" up in order to stuff him in. Bobby lived next door to me on Torrance Street. There was a group of us teenagers who lived between Guy Street and Mountain Street. Bobby named us "The Back Ally Commandos." We were playing around with Bobby one day, we had him surrounded like we could take him down. I was the one who got caught. I woke up after he had put a "sleeper" hold on me. We all loved Bobby. I can't say in print how I felt about Bryce.

Pimps at Rockhead's Paradise: The only thing a girl could get "beat" for was being too friendly with another pimp. Pimps might wear pink suits so you had to intimidate or you would be mistaken for gay. Pimping was like the "hit parade," if your woman was better dressed than others and looked like they were being taken care of better than others then your popularity rose up and the others would want to be with the guy whose women looked fabulous. Pimps would park their cars in front of the place and be on the 3rd floor looking sharp and flashing money. Certain women would choose to be with certain guys. That's how the "game" worked. Prostitution was not allowed in Rockheads, but prostitutes could be costumers and socialize as long as they did not try to do business.


***

There were a few black addicts, Kenny Jackson, Stanley Best, Freddie Baines. He was scary.

**

My Father loved the (boxing) Hilton family and they loved him. They sent flowers when he died Everybody had a "hustle."

The Roberts brothers were white guys from the west end. They were cool with the black guys up to a point. I was also there when Brian Powers took a bad beating on Mountain and St. Antoine from the Roberts brothers. I was the only one who stepped in and told Clifford and Jimmy Roberts to "take that shit where you live" don't bring your shit here. I think there were 3 of them but I only knew 2.




**


Hamilton, at left, in the cast of Hair, 1970
Satan's Choice bikers started hanging in Rockheads Paradise for a while, started having sex with the black girls.

**
A sailor was beaten in front of the Harlem Paradise on Mountain St. He was black. The guys that did it were from Nova Scotia and did that stuff in Halifax cause lots of American ships docked there and sailors were having sex with the women. They were assholes who brought that shit to Montreal when they came here.I was there, I saw it, it was horrible

The Harlem Paradise presented top notch entertainment {but not of the "hit record" status}. After his show at Expo 67 Otis Redding went there and performed for free with "The Hot Tamales" band. Also great jazz artist's like guitarist Grant Green, pianist Stanley Turrentine, and David "Fat Head" Newman, Ray Charles's sax man.

***


On impresario Norm Silver A very kind man who helped young Montreal guys get experience. I worked the spotlight a few times.

**

Jimi Hendrix never played the Esquire with King Curtis. He played at a teenage dance hall {no liquor} 217 Laurier. He was with The Isley Brothers.

**
Clarification: Another Montreal musical performer bearing the same name of Ken Hamilton, this one of Jamaican origins, thrived on the local on the scene around the same time.

http://coolopolis.blogspot.com/2020/04/late-great-montreal-musician-kenny.html?m=1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-o1Bf6mgwXk&t=325s

Video about the North Preston’s Finest
A group of pimps from Nova Scotia.

I'm reading this and am amazed that there was that much activity from Black gangs going back to the 1960's. I had thought they did not even exist there as gangs till the early part of this century.

There was a guy named Rufus Rockhead. There are many rumors about this legend of the black community in Montreal.
He was the owner of the famous club named Rockhead's Paradise.
And he had many tough black guys in his entourage.
Many articles mention that he was bootleging alchool with the famous Al Capone.
And Al Capone visit many time the Rockhead's Paradise, since Capone was a fan of jazz music.

In 1928, Rufus Rockhead, a Jamaican-born immigrant, First World War veteran, and former railroad porter, bought the building at 1258 St.Antoine Street West, corner of Mountain street.[4] The three-story building initially housed hotel rooms on the top floor. In 1931, Rockhead converted the second and third floors into a cabaret-style night club and managed to obtain a liquor licence from the Quebec provincial authorities, a ground-breaking achievement for a black businessman at the time.[5]

The club became famous for the high quality of its all-black stage shows and the hospitality of its owner, who greeted patrons individually at the top of the stairs. Famous African-American musicians and entertainers, including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald, often frequented the club after finishing their engagements elsewhere in the city, and sometimes performed impromptu on stage with the house band. In the 1940s, the club was known for some of Montreal's first performances by so-called female impersonators, featuring performers such as Dick Montgomery, Malva Bolda, and Billie McAllister.[6]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockhead%27s_Paradise

In Montreal, and particularly in jazz clubs, alcohol flows freely and some tourists take the opportunity to bring it back to the United States, and a trade as lucrative as it is illegal is set up between the two countries. It's not just Samuel Bronfman who made his fortune in contraband, there's also Rufus Rockhead.

This former porter made his fortune smuggling alcohol for Al Capone. In 1928, he bought the Mountain Tavern in Little Burgundy, which stands at the corner of Saint-Antoine and de la Montagne streets. Quickly, he transformed the second and third floors into a cabaret, and even if at the time it was impossible for a black man to obtain a liquor license, Rockhead called on friends in good places and became the first black man in Montreal to get his license. After three years, the Mountain Tavern becomes Rockhead's Paradise.

https://www.ledevoir.com/societe/424223/un-enfant-du-harlem-du-nord

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GonyIPniTgI

A small video on Rockhead on Youtube.

Many italian mobsters, french canadians and irish gangsters went to this club.
Also, you had some blacks that were trying to make money in the underworld, being close customers.

A prolific independent network stemming from street gangs dismantled

Six months after conducting searches aimed at dismantling a prolific network of independent drug traffickers from street gangs, investigators from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) have been making the arrests since early Wednesday morning, La Presse has learned. .

According to our information, a dozen individuals should be arrested during this search.

These arrests conclude a major investigation by the SPVM's Organized Crime Division (DCO), dubbed Auxo, during which investigators seized at least 54 kilograms of cocaine, 46 kilograms of crystal meth, nearly 170,000 methamphetamine tablets and 36 kilograms of cannabis, for a total valuation of approximately 4 million.
During the investigation, the sleuths also got their hands on an astronomical sum of money of 1.3 million and eight firearms, including an AR-15 type assault rifle.
In the big leagues

During searches in June, the commander of the SPVM's DCO, Francis Renaud, explained to La Presse that the members of the network came from street gangs and had created an independent organization that had nothing to envy to major criminal groups. , such as the Hells Angels and the mafia.
This network could even supply them and street gangs on the north and south shores of Montreal.
The network is said to have moved at least 25 kilograms of cocaine a week and transported large sums of money to Toronto, where it relied on a "door", that is, a person who brought the cocaine into Canada and which allowed them to obtain supplies in large quantities, in the same way as the major criminal organizations.
“This is exactly the new color of organized crime. That is to say that it is individuals from all cultural communities, some of whom come from street gangs, who have started to collaborate together for a common goal, money. These people must have had the approval of certain important players and since they were useful to them, they were able to go about their business, ”explained Commander Renaud.
The suspects are scheduled to appear Wednesday afternoon at the Montreal courthouse.
More details to come.


https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/...dant-issu-des-gangs-de-rue-demantele.php

https://betterdwelling.com/an-ultra...canadian-real-estate-to-launder-fintrac/

Nigerian mafia in Canada

An “Ultra Violent Cult” Is Stealing Cars & Using Canadian Real Estate To Launder: FINTRAC

The crime syndicate entered Canada in 2003, according to the organization themselves. A FINTRAC analysis of transactions confirms operations began in early-2000s, though they didn’t land on law enforcement’s radar until 2013. They launched as the Black Axe Canada Zone, before forming Vancouver Zone later. Let’s gloss over the fact Vancouver is considered its own criminal jurisdiction.

Like most sophisticated transnational criminal organizations, they operate a diversified portfolio of crime. Drugs, human trafficking, document fraud, etc. — the list goes on, rivaling the Sicilian Mafia, Triads, or Cartel. Canada is a crowded market for organized crime, so the primary way to raise proceeds is more narrow. “The Black Axe in Canada is actively involved in large scale fraud and vehicle theft rings,” reads the report.

They aren’t exaggerating when they say “large scale.” Black Axe was found using a Romance Scam, catfishing people looking for love, at an epic scale. One Canadian member was involved in a $5 billion operation with victims across Canada and the US, that came to the attention of the FBI. That might not be news to the anti-fraud community, but the way the money is washed will be. We’ll come back to that.


Nearly 1 In 5 of The Group’s Suspicious Transactions In Canada Involved Real Estate
Canada is an extremely special place. Regardless of where you’re from or your religion, you’re welcome to use its world class laundry facilities. As the anti-corruption group OCCRP pointed out recently, Canada is more opaque than many tax havens. One expert even told them, “If organized crime were to create a country, it would look a lot like Canada.”

The Black Axe is in Italy an officially designated "Mafia". That is very rare for foreign crime groups.

And what about the Chinese and albanian crime groups that are present in Italy ?

What was this 5 billion operation and who was the guy involved?

among foreigners charged with 416 bis (mafia-type association) nigerians are by far the most, in other words nigerian cults are more similar to mafia-type groups (Cosa nostra, Ndranghata, Camorra) than others

I don’t know what other crime groups were involved. But it was led by the Black Axe


https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.3284484

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/amp...trail-of-tattered-lives/article27244946/

https://www.collisionrepairmag.com/...te-implicated-in-ontario-car-theft-ring/


I won’t be suprise that other more established crime groups in Canada had there cut in those crime.
Here some links

So the chinese organized crime groups in China are not refered as a mafia organization in Italy ?

https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/murder-drugs-and-extortion-in-tuscanys-chinese-underworld

https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/b...file-of-chinese-italian-crime-boss-zhang

the chinese criminal groups in Italy are not affiliated with the notorious Triads, they are local gangs and often there aren't even the conditions to incriminate them for mafia-type association

They are criminal groups referring to some forms of occultist and esoteric practices. They were established decades ago in Nigeria as student confraternities. The first was the Pyrates founded at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, in 1952.

Originally set up as student self-help associations, the gradual criminal transformation of Nigerian confraternities occurred during Eighties and Nineties when the dictatorship provided them with weapons and money to fight the National Association of Nigerian Students. From 1999, when the country returned to democracy, confraternities become a violent weapon to be used by the political parties in power against political oppositions, while the advantage for cults members was managing criminal activities with substantial impunity before the law.

Secret cults are now so widespread in Nigeria that no university is free from them. Among the 98 cults banned under the Secret Cult and Similar Activities Prohibition Law approved by Nigeria in 2004, a few are operating in Italy; Black Axe, Eiye, Vikings and Maphite.