In Canada, brothers Domenico and Giuseppe Violi and Giovanni Commisso are among more than 10 people facing charges, police said.
Across the border, a parallel but separate investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation into the Cosa Nostra in New York has led to the arrests of members and associates of both the Bonanno and Gambino crime families, Special Agent Michael McGarrity said Thursday.
Fourteen search warrants were executed at homes and businesses across the Greater Toronto And Hamilton Area and Montreal Thursday morning. A number of drug charges been laid in relation to the importation, exportation, and trafficking of drugs including contraband tobacco, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and carfentanil.
Charges related to weapons trafficking, illegal gaming, extortion and money laundering have also been laid.
Undercover operations throughout the investigation saw police purchase six kilograms of fentanyl and carfentanil, they say. Police say that, after dilution, three times that volume would've made it on to the streets.
With thousands of Canadians dying from these potent drugs every year, Supt. Leather described this seizure as a "significant dent" in the market.
"How long that impact lasts, time will tell," he said.
Givanni Commisso name does not appear on the RCMP web page. I question if Globe & Mail may have made a mistake about him unless there is more information to come.
