There isn't really any indication of 'Ndrangheta involvement in that first wave of hits against the Rizzutos. Federico Del Peschio and Nick Rizzuto Jr were killed by gang leader Ducarme Joseph on behalf of developer Tony Magi.

Desjardins' coalition against the Rizzutos included Joe Di Maulo, Salvatore Montagna, Domenico Arcuri, Giuseppe De Vito, and Vittorio Mirarchi. Out of all of those individuals the only one identified in connection to the 'Ndrangheta is Mirarchi, though this has not been confirmed. They also had motives for moving on them that weren't related to the Violi murders. Desjardins and Mirarchi were very upset by the murder of Johnny Bertolo. Di Maulo was Desjardins' brother-in-law. De Vito blamed the Rizzutos for being caught up in Colisée. Montagna wanted to assert his own influence in Montreal.

The second major wave of the conflict consisted of Mirarchi and the Scoppa brothers against the Rizzutos, and again the only 'Ndrangheta connections that have come up so far have been unsubstantiated and sound more like baseless boasts. The Scoppas also didn't care about what happened to the Violis 40 years ago. Salvatore Scoppa believed the Rizzutos were going to kill him because they thought he might be an informant.