Assassination of Salvatore Scoppa: this murder is a message to a mafia clan The partner and brother of Andrew Scoppa were murdered in the same year
FÉLIX SÉGUIN Monday, May 6, 2019 01:00 UPDATE Monday, May 6, 2019 01:00 The murder of a Mafioso during a family reunion on Saturday evening at a Laval hotel is perceived by the police as a message to the clan led by his brother.
Leading Mafia clan leader Andrea (Andrew) Scoppa lost his brother Salvatore Scoppa less than a year after the murder of longtime associate Steve Ovadia. Police sources interpret an attack against the mafia faction he leads.
Salvatore Scoppa, 49, had no chance when he was shot several times in the head and chest in the lobby of the Sheraton Laval.
This murder in full family celebration is an unusual way of doing things in the underworld. The murderers have targeted an entire family, not just one person, according to our police sources. Andrew Scoppa has already been considered by the authorities as the interim leader of the Montreal Mafia. He and his brother were already at loggerheads with the Rizzuto clan, led by Stefano Sollecito. Operation Magot
The latter suspected the Scoppa to be moles, according to judicial documents of Operation Magot.
"Stefano Sollecito argues that the decision was made to eliminate someone, and Gregory Woolley [at the time at the head of street gangs] adds by saying that a bullet in the chest is what they must do to keep the street, the city ", we summarize from electronic listening. Salvatore Scoppa is described as a man who made bizarre decisions because of his boiling character. He had thus attracted a good number of enemies over time.
He is suspected by the authorities of having been involved in a dozen murders in recent years, even though he has never been charged.
"He was one of the most dangerous criminals in Quebec," says a police source.
In exile
On at least three occasions, investigators suggested he flee the country because of the risks he ran.
He was forced into exile in 2015 and found refuge in Mexico. According to our information, Scoppa owed money after a drug deal in Peru went awry.
In the police community, it is estimated that this is probably the most significant murder to have occurred in the mafia since those of Rocco Sollecito and Lorenzo Giordano, occurred in 2016.
Last night, no one was arrested in connection with the crime.
