Originally Posted By: antimafia
This past October, Franco Roberti--Italy's national antimafia and antiterrorism public prosecutor--along with a delegation of Italian judges who are part of La Commissione Parlamentare Antimafia (the Italian Parliament's antimafia commission), visited Canada for a series of meetings with Canada's Minister of Justice and other counterparts.

Roberti and the delegation were told that between 2009 and the current year, there were 20 crimes in Canada attributed to clashes between mafia groups (mostly 'ndranghetisti versus Siclians) and to clashes between 'ndrangheta factions vying for control of both illicit and legal activities.

Link to Italian-language article published two days ago:

http://www.ansa.it/legalita/rubriche/spe...48c492c538.html


Franco Roberti is mentioned in the Italian-language article to which I've linked below. The article was published online today.

Il Canada è diventato il paradiso dei mafiosi
http://espresso.repubblica.it/inchieste/...3319?refresh_ce

Like many Italian-language articles written about the Montreal mob war, this article is essentially presented as a Sicilians-versus-Calabrians battle for control of the Montreal underworld, using the murders of Rocco Sollecito and Carmine Verduci as a framework, and concluding that the 'ndrangheta will not be stopped in its attempt to take over. The reporter has at least made the effort to present competing theories about certain events. This part of the article is what I found most intriguing:

Dissidi, forse alla base dell’agguato a Verduci, scoppiati dalla scoperta di un inatteso legame tra Ciccio Formaggio e uomini dell’odiato clan Rizzuto. Su questa ipotesi stanno lavorando anche i nostri specialisti antimafia. Che, ora, metteranno alla prova la controparte canadese dopo la firma delle linee guida volute da Franco Roberti. “The Animal”, colpito dal fuoco di due padrini emergenti che mirano a prendersi anche il Québec, cioè Montréal, la città dove Cosa nostra è più forte e il tessuto economico più florido.

The first sentence above indicates that one possible reason for the murder of Verduci was an unexpected link he had with men from the Rizzuto clan. The fourth sentence indicates that Verduci ("The Animal)" was shot as a result of two emerging godfathers (candidates?) who also have their sights set on taking over Montreal.

Last year, on another forum, either eurodave, Hollander, or I posted a link to an Italian-language article that indicated Rocco Sollecito had tight links to 'ndrangheta clans whose origins are in the Locride (an area in the province of Reggio Calabria)--here's the link to that article:

http://www.rivieraweb.it/la-‘ndrangheta-vuole-tutto-dopo-toronto-montréal

I am of the belief that Verduci had tight links to Agostino Cun-trera but I have never been able to confirm this. As an aside, I did read in the Operazione Il Crimine arrest warrants that Giuseppe Coluccio first sought refuge in Quebec in 2005 before making his way to Ontario, where he lived till his arrest in 2008. The ties that Sollecito is reported to have with the Commisso clan in Italy were also confirmed in the same warrants, as were the ties that Vito Rizzuto, Nick Rizzuto Sr., Paolo Renda, Francesco Arcadi, Sicilian traffickers in Ontario, and the Caruan-Cun-trera group had to the same clan.

The two emerging godfathers ("due padrini emergenti") could be a reference to the Figliomeni brothers who are thought to have ordered Verduci's murder, but I am also wondering whether this could be a reference to Francesco Arcadi and Francesco Del Balso.

The reporter may also be insinuating that Verduci and Sollecito had tight links.

Last edited by antimafia; 01/20/17 04:35 PM. Reason: Fixed my typos.