Italian police officers do not hesitate to speak of the “fall” of the Rizzuto clan after the latest setbacks of the Sicilian organization in Montreal.
On behalf of the JE program , our Bureau of Investigation went to Calabria, cradle of the most powerful mafia in the world, the 'Ndrangheta.
After half a dozen interviews with the greatest specialists in the fight against Italian organized crime, one observation emerges: the Rizzuto clan is in decline.
“The murders which have affected members of the Rizzuto family in recent years have led to the fall of the clan, which has already formed, with the Caruana and the Cuntrera, the main Italian criminal organization in Canada,” believes Alfonso Ladevaia, the director of the state police of Reggio, Calabria.
These murders are part of a change in the balance between Italian criminal groups operating in Canada,” adds Director Ladevaia.
Like a multinational
Experts interviewed say that the 'Ndrangheta has an annual turnover of more than $70 billion. This is more than that of companies like Air Canada, Desjardins, Couche-Tard, Bombardier and Metro combined.
In Canada, the Calabrian mafia is mainly established in the Toronto and Thunder Bay region of Ontario, where it has four branches, themselves divided into 17 sections. But it is also becoming more and more active in Montreal.
Without revealing the exact content of the discussions captured by the electronic eavesdropping of certain 'Ndrangheta mafiosi, the commander of the carabinieri of Reggio Calabria affirms that he often hears about the situation in Montreal.
“We have made Canada understand how dangerous these people are,” says Colonel Massimiliano Galasso.
