I think looking at Hamilton/Buffalo, etc. through the lens of American LCN groups is incorrect. It's clear what's going on is involving groups that are structured differently than traditional, LCN groups who have a hierarchy structured like a pyramid. These may not be groups operating in a specific territory like the American LCN. I believe these are groups are more like drug trafficking networks and cut across both territories and mafia allegiances.
So, if there is mafia activity in Buffalo in 2018, to look at Buffalo as structured like a traditional LCN family may be wrong. We don't know if mobsters there include a mix of Todaro, Ndrangheta from Calabria, and Calabrians from Hamilton's families like Violis. Or the made guys flying the Todaro flag may be Canadians aligned with the Violis who were made in Buffalo. When they say "Hamilton answers to Buffalo", we don't really know the full extent of what that means yet: Who in Buffalo? Hamilton gangsters under the Todaro/Buffalo flag or Italian-American made guys in Buffalo?
Same thing with Hamilton: Hamilton seems to have 2 or 3 groups fighting for power right now, but there could also be Bonannos and Gambinos in the area (associates or members) working with some of the groups there.
With busts in New York lately we've seen connections of the Ndrangheta working with the Gambinos, so it's likely there's a decent amount of collaboration for drug trafficking. Which is why we've had reports of Bonannos doing making ceremonies in Canada. When drugs are involved, it's not really about controlling a territory so much as about making connections in several different places and groups in order to facilitate the drug shipments. Cabrini has discussed this several times before, especially when discussing the Partinico faction in Detroit from back in the day (also known as the lower Sicilian group). Similar to how the Cherry Hill Gambinos crew had made guys in both the US Gambino Family and in the families in Sicily.
What were seeing is a continuation of the huge power shift away from the Sicilian Mafia and toward the Ndrangheta. Now with the Rizzuto's weakened (but not completely defeated) in Montreal, their allies in Hamilton.. the Musitanos... are under attack. Even though the Musitanos are Calabrian with connections back to the old country, there's obviously other Ndrangheta groups trying to take control of Toronto and Hamilton seems to be a proxy for the war in Toronto.
“It’s definitely a Calabrian/’Ndrangheta Mafia War,†well-known mob observer James Dubro told The Toronto Sun. “It’s three or four cells competing for cocaine routes and power in the GTA. This is very big.â€
This is pretty spot on, when you think of Canadian organized crime, it's very diverse in comparison to the US. People need to understand that Mafia business in Canada is dangerous because you have actual families who have ties back to Italy that are fighting to control the drug market. Laws in Canada are a joke so these guys operate with little pressure and killing is a whole lot easier north of the border, so it's often used to eliminate competition. The US families on the other hand cannot operate with such freedom, that's why mob wars are not as common in the US these days. The thing to keep in mind is the US is a huge drug market, and the Canadians are fighting to control the trade and also keeping connections with the families down the US to distribute. That's why you hear about the Gambinos doing business with Calabrian mobsters in Toronto, and it's also the reason why Canadian mobsters in general keep contact with US mobsters, the two sides need one another.
Seeing all this chaos, one must respect how smart and powerful Vito Rizzuto was, when he was around and in power, he kept the region quiet for most part and everyone operated for a very long time. I wonder if we will ever see a powerful figure rise up again to take control.
