Journal De Montreal translation:



ÉRIC THIBAULT
Thursday, 5 January 2017 23:15Update Thursday, 5 January 2017 23:15
Without rudder, the Montreal mafia is completely disorganized at the end of another year of vendetta marked by the murders of three pillars of the Rizzuto clan.
Decimated by internal wars and police raids, the mafia is still in search of true leadership three years after the death of Vito Rizzuto, who died on December 23, 2013 after being the sponsor for nearly 20 years.
"The Montreal mafia is defeated. It has no rudder or structure as it was when it was headed by Vito Rizzuto or Vincent Cotroni, "says author Pierre De Champlain, an organized crime specialist and ex-intelligence analyst with the RCMP.
"Cleaning up"
According to him, 2016 was "one of the worst years" of the last decade in the murders perpetrated in the mafia milieu.
The fall of the Rizzuto clan accelerated with the assassination of three other major actors: the aspiring godfather Lorenzo Giordano, the interim leader Rocco Sollecito and Vincenzo Spagnolo, considered the "most faithful lieutenant" of the late godfather Rizzuto.
"In my opinion, the Sicilian clan is so weak at the moment that it no longer seems able to retaliate. We are witnessing a clean-up, "observed De Champlain.
The two main known leaders of the mafia, Leonardo Rizzuto and Stefano Sollecito, are awaiting trial for conspiracy, drug trafficking and gangsterism. Son of the late godfather, the former is in prison. Son of the late interim chief, the second is seriously ill.
The "Table de Direction" of the mafia they sat broke out with their arrest a year ago, coinciding with those of the alleged leader of the Hells Angels, Salvatore Cazzetta, and the number one street gang in Montreal , Gregory Woolley.
Return of the Calabrian clan?
"It has often happened in the past, mainly in Sicily and New York, that the mafia has been hit hard and has had to stay in the maquis for a few years before getting back up. Will this be the case in Montreal? "Asks the expert who has long followed the activities of the Montreal mafia while he was employed by the RCMP.
According to him, the year 2017 could give rise to a change of custody.
"The Calabrians seem to be in a good position to regain control," he said, referring to the sons of two ex-sponsors Paolo Violi and Frank Cotroni.
Our investigation office revealed on December 6 that Dominic Violi, born in Montreal and suspected of being linked to the Calabrian mafia of Hamilton, and Michel Cotroni met in October in a restaurant in Baie-D'Urfé, Which has since been ravaged by a suspect fire.
"But we'll have to see how it goes between them and the Hells Angels, who are in full swing," added De Champlain.
The last year was the return of the Hells Angels and bikers are expected to increase their hold on the criminal market in 2017.
Currently, "no criminal organization in Quebec has the ability to stand up to the Hells," say several police sources familiar with the activities of organized crime.
"The bikers are in a strong position. Unlike the mafia, it is a global organization, well structured and implemented throughout Quebec. It's not the workforce that's missing, "says Pierre De Champlain, a former intelligence analyst with the RCMP.
They now control the Quebec drug market, to the point of collecting a 10% sales tax from the other criminal groups - even the mafia - on the income they generate on "their" territory.
SharQc survivors
Neutralized by the imprisonment of the majority of their members since Operation SharQC of 2009, bikers have been well served by the confusion surrounding the outcome of the judicial proceedings of this historic police raid.
First, five of them had been released from charges of murder during the trial 14 months ago because the Crown delayed disclosing potentially favorable evidence for their defense.
Then, on appeal to the Court of Appeal from this "serious abuse of process" decried by the trial judge, another 35 Hells who had been found guilty of conspiracy to murder benefited from a significant reduction in their incarceration sentence , last summer.
About twenty of them were released from prison on the spot and the charges against several motorcyclists on the run were finally abandoned.
Full strength
The majority of the 80 members in good standing of the Hells are now at large. The police expect the management of the band to be taken by "pure wool" members after being assumed by former rock machines such as Salvatore Cazzetta as a result of Operation SharQc.
Having replenished their forces, the Hells reactivated four of their five chapters in Quebec and inaugurated a new section in New Brunswick.
The Hells are also assisted by many supporting clubs whose members get their hands dirty in their place in the "arm jobs" and other field crimes.
♦ In October, the head of the Sûreté du Québec, Prud'homme Martin, announced the Journal it would increase by about 30% the number of investigators in the fight brigades organized crime to deal with the rise of the Hells . The future will say whether it will be enough to contain them.