Rizzuto's Return: Vendetta Continues with Verduci Hit in Toronto

Rizzuto died before Christmas last year. He's said to have been behind hits on Ndrangheta members. 

Canoe.ca in Toronto reports that dead mob boss Vito Rizzuto's vendetta is continuing even now, four months following his funeral.

As reported here, Rizzuto years ago had begun a move into Ontario following the killing of Johnny "Pops" Papalia by a Ndrangheta faction out of the Hamilton area. The two groups were apparently working on an alliance that seems to have gone south.



Carmine Verduci, 56, was hit by two gunmen around 2 p.m. Thursday outside the Regina Cafe, an Ontario social club just north of Toronto. He  is a suspected Ndrangheta hit man whom police have described as a "bona fide psycho-killer."

According to sources, the hit is "proof the Vito Rizzuto vendetta continues," as Canoe.ca reports.

The Ndrangheta was among the opposition factions to Rizzuto's power when the Montreal mob boss returned home after serving time in an American prison. He quickly set about to avenge the murders of his father and son, among others close to him, while he was away. Rizzuto had warned police that blood would flow in the streets in his absence.

"It's not over," a source told QMI Agency. "This is a direct result of Montreal. This is a message to the Calabrians. This is a settling of accounts."


Verduci is -- was -- a known associate of Carmelo Bruzzese, a Ndrangheta boss now being held by Canadian immigration authorities while be battles deportation to Italy to face organized crime charges.

Verduci, who lived in Woodbridge, Ont., and Caledon, Ont., was named as being a member of a Canadian group linked to the Ndrangheta.

Vito's death from cancer took even members of his own family by surprise.
Born in Calabria, he has also been previously charged with having Mafia associations.

During Project Crimini, an operation run by Italian police, Verduci was heard on wiretaps in 2009 speaking with crime family chieftain Giuseppe "The Master" Commisso about the new Capo Crimini, an honorary position in the Ndrangheta to which one gets elected. The Capo Crimini chairs an annual meeting of Ndrangheta leaders.

As noted in a recent story, historically, several Mafia groups as well as other organized crime rings have been operating in Ontario; the three main ones in the Hamilton area are the Papalia family, the Luppino family and Musitano crime family, which is also a faction of the Calabrian Ndrangheta.

The Musitano family was behind the 1997 hit on Paplia family leader Johnny "The Enforcer" Papalia as well as the killing of then-Papalia family underboss Carmen Barillaro two months later.

Brothers Pasquale and Angelo run the Musitano family now, with Pat the official boss.

It was later learned that only months after the Papalia murders, Pat met with Vito Rizzuto, who was supposedly seeking to expand from Montreal into Ontario, according to Montreal police. This strongly suggests a motive for the Papalia hits, as it appeared that a major realignment of Mafia power was soon after in the planning stages.

We reported that Vito's death and the arrest of the brothers for the double hit on the Paplias preempted the alliance. However, it has since been noted that Vito had begun a move into Ontario to fill the void created by Papalia's death. The Verduci hit, according to police, suggests that the Rizzuto clan is working on finishing some unfinished business.

Comments

  1. Even though vito is dead, his loyalists remain extremely strong and wealthy thanks to vito. Ed, this here proves that the rizzuto faction isn't worried about Montreal. Do you think that the reason why Canada has alot of mob deaths is because of their lax criminal laws?

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    1. Well, they don't have anything like the RICO act in Canada, which I am sure doesn't help.

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  2. Ed, The Papalia's were/are an American Cosa Nostra entity formerly part of the Maggadino Family of Buffalo. The Musitano's are part of the Canadian 'Ndrangheta. What are the Luppino's?

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    1. From my research, they are the third of the key Mafia families based in Hamilton, Ontario, (apparently there are others; these are/were most powerful. Luppino boss was also supposed to have been hit by the Musitanos, but wasn't - he died in 2009, I believe. See my story, linked to in the above: Natural Death Spotlights Periods of Violence in Ontario Underworld. Not a lot of details about them.

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  3. To be honest I don't really care about mobsters killing other mobsters. It's not like they are killing innocent people. Our government is way worse than the Mafia. They steal, lie, cheat, and brainwash to get power. I mean the whole war on terror is a hoax. And to be honest the government has the power to totally eradicate organized crime but they don't do it because they need a boogeyman to take the focus off of them. I mean if organized crime disappeared then we would just focus on the government and wall street crooks. So the government is always on the lookout for a big bad boogeyman. Plus look at all the law enforcement careers that would be lost if organized crime totally went away. At least with these Mafia people we get a lot more entertainment.

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  4. Canada is mob city..bada bing very entertaining''

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  5. The end of the last godfather '' DON VITO..

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  6. How many mob books have the word "Last" in the title? Too many to count: let's make a list. The Last Mafioso, the Last Godfather, the Last Testament (Luciano and Bill Bonanno), Last Gangster, Last Days of the Sicilians, the Last Mouthpiece...

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