Not a convincing argument. I reiterate very good article.
Lol okay if you wanted a more in depth explanation all you had to do is ask and I'd be happy to give it.
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There are three major mafia families in Italy: the Camorra (Naples), the Cosa Nostra (Sicily) and the 'Ndrangheta (Calabria).
The very first sentence calls the organizations families.
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In the mafia, revenge is a dish best served cold, even frozen. It was in 2004, with the extradition of Vito Rizzuto to the United States for a triple murder committed in 1981 in New York, that the 'Ndrangheta clearly seemed to move its pawns.
As it happened, an internal war broke out between the Sicilians and the Calabrians in Quebec. Vito's father was eliminated (November 2010) as was his son, Nicolo (December 2009), and several of his loyal captains, including Paolo Renda, Federico Del Peschio and Agostino Cuntrera. Then, Vito died in December 2013.
Few things to breakdown in this. First there wasn't an internal war between the Sicilians and Calabrians. That is some made up story that journalists and authors and people online continue to run with. What happened was a internal struggle within the Bonanno crew with members of the crew on both sides both sides having Sicilians and calabrians and other Italians. Where me and Vitocahill disagree is having Joe Di Maulo as one of the main players in this. Most accounts have Joe Di Maulo sitting on the sidelines in this. The main instigator was Sal Montagna along with Giuseppe De Vito and Raynald Desjardins. Sal Montagna tried approaching Joe Di Maulo about getting involved and he wanted no role in it and that's why Moreno Gallo played a larger role.
Secondly they call Paolo Renda Federico Del Peschio and Agostino Cuntrera Captains which wasn't the case and I think I've made my opinion on that very well known here. Even if you disagree with me on that most writings that fall into the Rizzuto Family trap never label Paolo Renda a Captain.
Thirdly how exactly did the Ndrangheta starting moving their pawns after 2004? Who are we even talking about? The Ndrangheta isn't one singular group with the same ambitions and motivations. There's many different clans with their own goals in mind. The way those paragraphs are written would have you believe the Ndrangheta was behind it all. There were some meetings between the Sal Montagna Raynald Desjardins and Giuseppe De Vito camp with certain Ndrangheta members and Dom Violi but that doesn't mean they were behind it or even directly involved.
Vitocahill already touched on it and I will too. Some killings that were all reported to be from a war between the Rizzutos and Ndrangheta turned out to be something else. Carmine Verduci was a big one and it turned out to be nothing related with Montreal and then the Musitano brothers murder was said to he part of this alleged war and it turns out again it had nothing to do with Montreal.
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Although Montreal has always distinguished itself from Italian mafia traditionalism, the fact remains that this system cannot function without a godfather, a direction. It's in the DNA of the mafia.
I found this one the most egregious of the whole article. Montreal has actually been very traditional since forever. I'm not going to go through every single example since we'd be here all night but we saw it back in the 1970s when Paolo Violi had issues with Nicolo Rizzuto because he was being a cowboy doing his own thing. The hot tempered Paolo Violi didn't just murder Nicolo Rizzuto and call it a day. He went to his family's administration in NY and put in a beef. He then went to Sicily and did the same. There was then mediation which didn't end well for Paolo Violi.
When Sicilian members wanted to become members of Bonanno crew in Montreal instead of just inducting them he followed protocol which said they needed to be on record with them for a period of 5-7 years first.
In the 2000s when Montreal wanted a associate serviced by a different member they didn't just say hey you're with him now they went to their administration and requested the change.
It's only been until recently that Montreal has taken a less traditional modus operandi and I think it's no coincidence it coincides in a time of a complete breakdown of Cosa Nostra in the city.
I would add a couple things. The Bonnanos lost control of local OC, which they controlled by proxy.. Essentially what we are seeing is local OC assert itself. Also, what exactly is the Caruana- Cuntreras status today? Them losing control of the drug trade lost the streets of Montreal, imo.
Also, Montreal, as top members, had a French guy, a Black guy, a none Made Calabrian, Valiquette, the unmade Scoppas, I dunno. They were pretty mixed up. But I see this as the emergence of powerful components of local OC. I see the Rizzutos being the central reference, that local OC took direction from. 1st it was the Cotronis as the central reference, then a brief transition to the Violis, then the Rizzutos. Now the Bikers feel strong enough to be the central reference for OC.
The most interesting thing to me about this "Book" is that it seems to be a creature of local Organized Crime, not a extension of a New York based sportsbook operation.
