The murder of a mafioso in a hotel in Laval not only shocked the police, but also raised the grumbling of the Hells Angels.
Influential bikers expressed their dissatisfaction with the reckless method with which Salvatore Scoppa was killed at the Sheraton Hotel on the evening of May 4, the Journal of Sources on Organized Crime said. Some of them have even told law enforcement officials in recent days, according to our information.
This may seem surprising coming from the gang that, under the thumb of Maurice "Mom" Boucher, led a deadly war against rival gangs that killed more than 160 people and around 20 innocent victims in Quebec, between 1994 and 2002.
But the Hells, who now control almost the entire Quebec drug market, fear the repercussions of these mafia retaliation because of increased police attention.
"They do not agree with this murder. The Hells do not need to have more police heat. They want to have as little trouble as possible, "said a reliable source.
Police more present
On Monday, Laval police chief Pierre Brochet announced that his troops would increase their presence in places frequented by the mafia and other organized crime groups.
He reiterated that the murder of Scoppa, in which a shooter emptied two bullets into a crowded hotel, was "inadmissible" and could have resulted in innocent victims.
These groups have already been the target of 1100 arrests in a year and a half, an average of three per day, according to Chief Inspector Guy Lapointe.
Means "at the height"
Public Safety Minister Geneviève Guilbault reiterated on Monday that "the means [of fighting organized crime] will be up to the task".
The police suspected Salvatore Scoppa of having been involved in murders at the expense of the Rizzuto clan and believe that he was the victim of revenge.
It seems that since Silva's arrest in February, Scoppa had dropped his guard. He was not wearing his bulletproof jacket and had no bodyguard when he was killed at a party following the first communion of one of his children.
A LOADED PISTOL IS SEIZED FROM A MAFIOSO A Laval mafioso who felt his life threatened by rivals has been convicted of unlawful possession of a loaded pistol.
Steve Casale, considered a lieutenant in the clan of influential mafia leader Vittorio Mirarchi and Caid Raynald Desjardins, conceded the verdict last week at the courthouse in Montreal.
The 40-year-old man, who would dip into illegal sports betting and loan sharking, according to a survey by the SPVM, should receive his sentence next month.
Armed bodyguards
Nicknamed "Cook" in the underworld, he was reported to Montreal police two years ago by an informant who claimed that Casale feared for his life and never moved without being accompanied by armed bodyguards.
On June 13, 2017, the SPVM carried out a search of his residence in Laval and seized a Beretta-branded, 22-gauge pistol.
The same evening, the police also arrested one of his bodyguards, Francesco Catalano, armed with a semi-automatic pistol as he was leaving a bar in Little Italy. The possession of this prohibited weapon earned him a 28-month sentence.
This same Catalano had already been accused in 2008 - then whitewashed - of having participated in a kidnapping with Mafia Salvatore Scoppa. He was murdered at a family party at a Laval hotel on May 4th.
According to court documents, Steve Casale was one of the wedding guests of Vittorio Mirarchi in 2009 in the Bahamas and the wedding of Raynald Desjardins' daughter at the Mirage Golf Club in Terrebonne in 2011. He did not criminal record.
Mirarchi was convicted of plotting the murder of aspiring sponsor Salvatore Montagna with Desjardins in 2011. He has been free for a year and a half. He would always be perceived as a potential sponsor of the Montreal mafia.
