‘Ndrangheta Dynamics In The Greater Toronto Area: The Story Of An Internal Mafia Clash (Part 1)
By Andrew Machin
“Ultimately, TAVERNESE, who has considerable power in Canada where he has been operating for a long time, must respect the AQUINOS and the COLUCCIOS in Italy, to whom he is closely related, in order to guarantee for himself, overseas, the support of the latter since it is useful to the management of his interests”.
“Therefore, a perfect operational and decision-making correspondence emerges between the cell operating in Italy and Canada - a fact already objectified in the past as part of the Siderno Group investigation. In the light of the overall elements, one consideration is to be made, namely that the Locali, 'Ndrangheta families operating outside Calabria, just as it has been documented for those settled in Northern Italy, must always refer to their Locali of origin, and in this specific case to the Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Jonica, which in turn are included, with their high-ranking members, in the so called JONIC side [see the previous article]”.
Unfortunately, returning to the disagreement mentioned beforehand, nr. 64 was no longer identified.
However, considering that in GTA the Locali dependent on the mother-Local of Siderno were and are in evident majority, for a matter of probability, we can suppose that nr. 64 was a high-ranking member of one of them. Therefore, the contrast between the Locale dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica in Toronto was most likely with another Locale operating in Toronto, dependent on the mother-Locale of Siderno.
A hypothesis not invalidated for the fact that elements from Siderno, including Cosimo Figliomeni, brother of Angelo Figliomeni, both residents in Canada (known as “the Brigands”), had participated about seven months earlier (on Jan. 17, 2009) in a large dinner organized by the Coluccios, and in particular by Antonio Coluccio ( below), in Siderno, as always reported by Project Crimine.
Riccardo Rumbo, cl. 1962 (above), Capo of the Donisi ‘Ndrina, also called Rumbo-Galea-Figliomeni ‘Ndrina, one of the sub-units of the same mother-Locale of Siderno, followed on Dec. 14, 2010, as one of the main objectives of the Project Bene Comune. Successive investigations ascertained that, over time, his place in the organization had been taken by his son Santo, cl. 1989 (take note that, before the last arrest in Luxembourg within the Italian Project Canadian ‘Ndrangheta Connection 2, on Aug. 9, 2019, based on an interception, Santo, although still relatively young, would receive a new and very high rank of 'Ndrangheta right in Canada, where he had temporarily moved; a promotion probably obtained also thanks to the sponsorship of the Figliomeni brothers inside the Crimine of Siderno in Toronto area; see previous article here).
In the following two years, the arrests of other high-ranking members who had managed to make themselves fugitives also followed at a rapid pace.
It started in March 2011 with Antonio Galea, cl. 1962 (below), a subject always belonging to the Donisi ‘Ndrina.
❸ Domenico (cl. 1965), on Sept. 14, whose contacts and business with Canada were specifically mentioned during the press conference to present the arrest operation by the Carabinieri.
This wave of arrests between 2010 and 2012 struck at different levels.
Firstly, at the level of the supreme bosses of the mother-Locali of Siderno and Marina di Gioiosa Ionica as well as Gioiosa Ionica since its Capo Locale, Antonio Ursino (brother of Giuseppe, of Bradford, GTA, in 2019 sentenced to 12 ½ years within Canadian Project OPhenix), had been arrested before all the others in March 2010. This new situation made it impossible to activate the typical mediation works in the event of disputes. A fundamental function pertaining only to the supreme bosses, who possess the necessary authority, in order to avoid continuous bloodshed among men of ‘Ndrangheta (in general, these types of actions must in fact be minimized as they tend to attract the attention of the police forces and damage business).
Secondly, also at the lower level of 'Ndrina (sub-unit of a Locale/Society). In this case, we refer in particular to Riccardo Rumbo, supreme boss of the Donisi ‘Ndrina.
Project Bene Comune documented an authoritarian intervention by the latter in order to smooth out conflicts between members of his 'Ndrina and, probably, the Locale of the Figliomeni brothers located in Toronto, distant component of the same Donisi 'Ndrina, also called, not by chance, Rumbo-Galea-Figliomeni 'Ndrina.
In this regard, the reconstruction of the Italian persecutors in Project Bene Comune is well known:
⦿ The Donisi 'Ndrina intends to launder money from its common fund by opening some public spaces where to place slot machines and allow illegal gambling in the Toronto area, evidently, thanks to the support, in loco, of the Figliomeni brothers (about ten years later, in 2019, Canadian Project codenamed Sindacato will reveal the impressive turnover generated by the management of this sector of activities by the Figliomenis).
⦿ But, “In particular, the opening of a bar, which probably took place in an area not of competence of the clan, threatened to thwart the economic interests of other criminal components in the Ontario Area”. As a rule, each Locale has its own territory of exclusive competence. It is therefore highly probable that even in GTA each Locale has its own within which the others can operate only with its prior permission (for example, to open a café); in absence, the firebombing is practically certain.
⦿ In this context, " ....disputes had arisen within the 'ndrina, between the FIGLIOMENI family, on the one hand, GALEA Antonio, GIORGINI Domenico and FIGLIOMENI Tito, on the other”.
⦿ At that point, Riccardo Rumbo intervened and ordered the cessation of any conflict in order to guarantee and not damage the "common good" (in other words: the business), an expression so evocative that it was used by the Italian investigators to name the Project they were working on.
However, the long list of people arrested between 2010 and 2012 was partly compensated, at the end of this period, by a significant exception.
When we talk about Giuseppe Coluccio, we refer to a very high-ranking member of the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, although always subject to his relative Rocco Aquino (there are wiretapping, dated 2013, documenting Giuseppe Coluccio's attempts to orchestrate, with much hoped help of a politician, an operation aimed at reducing on appeal the prison sentence inflicted on Rocco Aquino derived from Project Crimine: “… we can serve him [the politician] in all ways… if he helps us about this fact related to… to Rocco… we also sell our soul to the devil...”).
Take note that not only Giuseppe, but all the Coluccio brothers (Giuseppe, cl. 1966, Salvatore, cl. 1967 and Antonio, cl. 1969, who, while still children, found themselves orphans of their father Vincenzo, murdered during a ‘Ndrangheta feud in 1971) had solid ties with the Toronto area having moved there in the early-mid 2000s. A presence that had considerably strengthened the Locale of Toronto dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, before the respective judicial vicissitudes brought them back to Italy.
Vicissitudes that began with the arrest, on Aug. 8, 2008, of Giuseppe Coluccio himself, thanks to a joint operation of Italian and Canadian police.
Giuseppe was a fugitive since 2005 and included on the list of the thirty most wanted fugitives in Italy. Under false identity and being able to count on the support of his brother Antonio and Vincenzo Tavernese, he lived in a luxury condo on the Toronto waterfront and made himself known by driving equally luxurious cars.
The persecutors of Project Crimine listed some of the personal effects that were in his possession at the time of the arrest and in particular:
ü “a French driving license in the name of BERTOLOTTI Agostino, born in Rome on 10.02.1962, domiciled at 7 Rue Clement 38000 Grenoble, counterfeit because it bears his photographic effigy;
ü a holy card bearing the face of Jesus Christ and the words: “Death has you suddenly kidnapped from us, among the many sufferings you continued to give us hope. With your goodness and honesty as a man and a father you will guide us from heaven. A sweet memory and a sad prayer to the lips. I die but my love for you will never die. AQUINO VINCENZO” [father of the three aforementioned Aquino brothers] (of whom there is a photographic effigy on the front);
ü two sheets of paper written on the computer showing an accounting of large sums of money owed to him with an indication of the debtors;
⦿ HSBC - MASTER CARD credit card in the name of a woman;
⦿ HSBC - MASTER CARD credit card in the name of SCARFÒ Giuseppe;
⦿ other holy cards (including that of the Virgin Mary of Polsi) and sacred images, as well as some Canadian business cards and numbers marked on cards”.
Giuseppe Coluccio, at that time, was most likely the head of the internal "business unit" of the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica (the Italian persecutors will speak of “organization within the organization”) dedicated to the international drug trade. An organization that had been active for years with strong contacts at the highest criminal level, first of all, presumably, with Roberto Pannunzi, perhaps the most powerful and best known of all drug brokers on behalf of the 'Ndrangheta, but also of Sicilian Cosa Nostra (however, between 2004 and 2010, Pannunzi was locked up).
Nevertheless, an organization that, only about a month later (Sept. 2008), would have suffered a new big blow by the dismantling of one of its channels (probably the main one) used to supply the European market with cocaine shipments from the Americas (international police operation called Project Reckoning in USA and Project Solare in Italy). A drug trafficking centered on its own men operating in New York City, the Schirripa brothers, in business as cocaine suppliers with Mexican narcos belonging to the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas.
On May 10, 2009, it was therefore the turn of Salvatore Coluccio, arrested this time in Italy. Similarly to Rocco and Giuseppe Aquino, he was hiding in his home, more precisely in a cavity created in the laundry room behind a mechanical wall (see: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AdmMjTnEFI).
Lastly, in 2010, the youngest of the brothers, Antonio, voluntarily left Canada to avoid deportation by Canadian immigration, after living for 5 years with his wife and children in a million-dollar home in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto (A. Humphreys, on National Post, Jul. 19, 2018, provided a non-trivial detail of it: “The impact of his father’s legacy was clear to anyone who visited his home: through tall glass doors in his office on the ground floor, a five-foot-tall oil painting of his father glared down”). During his stay in Canada, Antonio Coluccio was in very close, almost symbiotic business relations with Vincenzo Tavernese.
Thanks to the investigations carried out as part of Project Acero-Krupy which, we repeat, closed in Sept. 2015 with the issuance of the related arrest warrants (in 2018, with his first trail, Antonio Coluccio would have been sentenced to 30 years in prison), it was possible to acquire a fairly precise picture of the internal dynamics of the Coluccio clan.
These investigations documented Giuseppe’s effort to regain the control of an organization that, entrusted to his brother Antonio, had plunged into chaos. Rules, roles and hierarchies had jumped and therefore it was foremost a matter of firmly resuming the reins of his crime group.
The persecutors of Project Acero-Krupy expressed themselves in these terms: “In particular, it was possible to confirm the alleged apical role covered within the association of the same name by Giuseppe Coluccio, promoter and organizer of the investigated mafia organization to whom would have been unquestionably recognized the authority to restore the internal hierarchies, identify future criminal orientations and ensure compliance with the 'Ndrangheta rules partly disregarded during his period of detention".
At the same time, Giuseppe was doing his utmost to restart his traditional and more profitable business, that of international cocaine trafficking. In his absence, the clan was in difficulty in supplying drugs evidently due to the loss of direct contacts with South American suppliers.
In conclusion, the facts reported above describe the following situation in the period 2013 – 2014:
① Within the Locali of, or dependent on, Siderno and Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, only two top rampant bosses, Angelo Figliomeni and Giuseppe Coluccio, weren’t incarcerated at the time.
② Therefore, none at their criminal level, or above, could (or wanted to) promote or impose a peaceful mediation in the event of a serious conflict between them.
③ Due to the repeated arrests listed above, the Society of Siderno lacked a unitary leadership: every 'Ndrina in Siderno as well as every Locale scattered in Italy, Europe and other continents (“it has ninety-six Locali”) was free to act independently, without asking for prior advice or authorization from the top of the mother-Society.
In this criminal context that embraced the two sides of the Atlantic Sea (Giuseppe Coluccio couldn't go to Canada because he was subjected to police special surveillance), the clash broke out without anyone being able to interfere or avoid it.
Based on a circumstantial framework however not proven at judicial level, the Figliomeni brothers, having no longer anyone to answer for their actions, allegedly opened the hostilities. The result was a man left shot dead on the asphalt on Apr. 24, 2014. Victim of a single gunman, an individual of very high criminal level. Probably, the one who was Capo of the Locale of Toronto dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica. A murder that shook the structure of the 'Ndrangheta in GTA from its foundations and which probably contributed significantly to cause an internal rift, still in existence, between the Locali of Toronto dependent on the mother-Society of Siderno and all the others (see previous article here).
(End of Part 1.)
"It was said that wherever they passed, grass no longer grew."
-- Paolo Iannò, government witness, former Capo Locale of Gallico (North of Reggio Calabria), about the Mancusos, the blood family at the top of the Locale of Limbadi (Tyrrhenian side), Jun. 2018.
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| Rocco Aquino |
This article, divided into parts for convenience, will list the clues that lead us to believe that, between 2014 and 2015, a clash entirely internal to the ‘Ndrangheta took place in Woodbridge, a community in Vaughan (Greater Toronto Area).
The chain of violence it has generated is believed to consist of at least two murderous acts (for a total of three killed) and one arson.
It was probably the result of frictions and contrasts that lasted for years between two Locali belonging to the Crimine of Toronto and having two different mother-Locali in Calabria (Siderno and Marina di Gioiosa Ionica).
The chain of violence it has generated is believed to consist of at least two murderous acts (for a total of three killed) and one arson.
It was probably the result of frictions and contrasts that lasted for years between two Locali belonging to the Crimine of Toronto and having two different mother-Locali in Calabria (Siderno and Marina di Gioiosa Ionica).
However, the hostilities broke out at a precise historical moment, with the occurrence of certain conditions which we will deal with.
If this analysis is confirmed, the feud in question here would therefore fully fall into the category CAT.1 sub.2 according to the categorization presented in the previous article.
Not surprisingly, the first news about existing frictions within the Crimine of Toronto came from Calabria, where the mother-Locali of ‘Ndrangheta reside. Here, the Italian judicial authorities had instructed Project Crimine which is now unanimously recognized as a milestone in the fight against the ‘Ndrangheta. Indeed, its large amount of information and evidence collected made it possible to reconstruct the structure and identify the members of that Crimine that was at the top of the pyramidal hierarchy of the ‘Ndrangheta.
Among the materials in support of this investigation there was also the text of an "extremely significant conversation intercepted on Jul. 18, 2009, from 10.44 am, inside the Fiat Grande Punto car with license plate DX593TA, in that moment rented by Vincenzo TAVERNESE” who, in the same Project, was repeatedly indicated to be member of the Board of Control (Camera di Controllo) of the Crimine of Toronto (allegedly as representative of the Locale dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica).
The conversation aboard the car took place "between the aforementioned TAVERNESE, AQUINO Rocco (cl. 60) [supreme boss of the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica; photo above] and a man currently unidentified". At a certain point of the conversation, Tavernese shifted attention to issues concerning Toronto where he permanently resides. In particular: "the dialogue continues with TAVERNESE asking AQUINO Rocco to go to Toronto because there are people who are behaving badly with them”:
(…)
TAVERNESE V.: come to Toronto a fortnight...
AQUINO R.: no... I think I'll come...
TAVERNESE V.: you must also come for Sixty-Four [code name]…
AQUINO R.: no but I should be there by now...
TAVERNESE V.: can't you leave Vice [evidently, nickname of a trusted man by Rocco Aquino]? ... because you have to go and scold him in some way … right away ... ahh?... because only this remains … do you understand?
AQUINO R.: yes...
TAVERNESE V.: ehh… because he cheats us… if you intervene he cheats no one...
We leave the comment to the Italian prosecutors: “The conversation just reported appears extremely interesting because it demonstrates the role of boss held by AQUINO Rocco (cl. 60), so highly respected that, only with his intervention, TAVERNESE believes he can resolve a conflict in Canada with a subject (indicated as "64 "), of Italian origin, who seems to have remained the only one who did not agree with them in the Toronto area (lit: "because only this remains").
If this analysis is confirmed, the feud in question here would therefore fully fall into the category CAT.1 sub.2 according to the categorization presented in the previous article.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Not surprisingly, the first news about existing frictions within the Crimine of Toronto came from Calabria, where the mother-Locali of ‘Ndrangheta reside. Here, the Italian judicial authorities had instructed Project Crimine which is now unanimously recognized as a milestone in the fight against the ‘Ndrangheta. Indeed, its large amount of information and evidence collected made it possible to reconstruct the structure and identify the members of that Crimine that was at the top of the pyramidal hierarchy of the ‘Ndrangheta.
Among the materials in support of this investigation there was also the text of an "extremely significant conversation intercepted on Jul. 18, 2009, from 10.44 am, inside the Fiat Grande Punto car with license plate DX593TA, in that moment rented by Vincenzo TAVERNESE” who, in the same Project, was repeatedly indicated to be member of the Board of Control (Camera di Controllo) of the Crimine of Toronto (allegedly as representative of the Locale dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica).
The conversation aboard the car took place "between the aforementioned TAVERNESE, AQUINO Rocco (cl. 60) [supreme boss of the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica; photo above] and a man currently unidentified". At a certain point of the conversation, Tavernese shifted attention to issues concerning Toronto where he permanently resides. In particular: "the dialogue continues with TAVERNESE asking AQUINO Rocco to go to Toronto because there are people who are behaving badly with them”:
(…)
TAVERNESE V.: come to Toronto a fortnight...
AQUINO R.: no... I think I'll come...
TAVERNESE V.: you must also come for Sixty-Four [code name]…
AQUINO R.: no but I should be there by now...
TAVERNESE V.: can't you leave Vice [evidently, nickname of a trusted man by Rocco Aquino]? ... because you have to go and scold him in some way … right away ... ahh?... because only this remains … do you understand?
AQUINO R.: yes...
TAVERNESE V.: ehh… because he cheats us… if you intervene he cheats no one...
We leave the comment to the Italian prosecutors: “The conversation just reported appears extremely interesting because it demonstrates the role of boss held by AQUINO Rocco (cl. 60), so highly respected that, only with his intervention, TAVERNESE believes he can resolve a conflict in Canada with a subject (indicated as "64 "), of Italian origin, who seems to have remained the only one who did not agree with them in the Toronto area (lit: "because only this remains").
TAVERNESE acknowledges the charisma and power of AQUINO Rocco and the COLUCCIOS [the AQUINO and COLUCCIO brothers are related], indeed he appears very careful during his stay in Italy not to frequent subjects unwelcome to the COLUCCIOS with whom he also agrees on how to behave toward third parties”.
“Ultimately, TAVERNESE, who has considerable power in Canada where he has been operating for a long time, must respect the AQUINOS and the COLUCCIOS in Italy, to whom he is closely related, in order to guarantee for himself, overseas, the support of the latter since it is useful to the management of his interests”.
“Therefore, a perfect operational and decision-making correspondence emerges between the cell operating in Italy and Canada - a fact already objectified in the past as part of the Siderno Group investigation. In the light of the overall elements, one consideration is to be made, namely that the Locali, 'Ndrangheta families operating outside Calabria, just as it has been documented for those settled in Northern Italy, must always refer to their Locali of origin, and in this specific case to the Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Jonica, which in turn are included, with their high-ranking members, in the so called JONIC side [see the previous article]”.
Unfortunately, returning to the disagreement mentioned beforehand, nr. 64 was no longer identified.
However, considering that in GTA the Locali dependent on the mother-Local of Siderno were and are in evident majority, for a matter of probability, we can suppose that nr. 64 was a high-ranking member of one of them. Therefore, the contrast between the Locale dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica in Toronto was most likely with another Locale operating in Toronto, dependent on the mother-Locale of Siderno.
A hypothesis not invalidated for the fact that elements from Siderno, including Cosimo Figliomeni, brother of Angelo Figliomeni, both residents in Canada (known as “the Brigands”), had participated about seven months earlier (on Jan. 17, 2009) in a large dinner organized by the Coluccios, and in particular by Antonio Coluccio ( below), in Siderno, as always reported by Project Crimine.
An initiative with which the latter had wanted to bring together all their ranks and allies (in Calabria but also in Canada) allegedly to demonstrate their continued strength even in absence of the head of the blood family Giuseppe (imprisoned for some months) and even after the recent police international operation called Solare in Italy and Reckoning in US (Sept. 2008) that had dismantled their cocaine supply line directly from the Americas. The irruption by the police, which had monitored all the preparation for the event, revealed the presence among the guest of the already mentioned Cosimo Figliomeni, Rocco Aquino (the Capo Locale), two sons of Carmelo Bruzzese (evidently on his behalf), Vincenzo Tavernese and Carmine Verduci, usually residents in Canada (in 2017, the several times mentioned Tavernese was definitively acquitted of the crime of mafia association within the Project Crimine trial notwithstanding the same judges admitted “the existence of a visible relationship with the fugitive Coluccio Giuseppe” in Canada and his participation in meetings, in particular with Rocco Aquino, and organized lunches and dinners in Calabria, as we have in part just described).
In any case, in Calabria, the scenario outlined above would radically change about a year later.
The precise turning point began as Italian police made the arrests requested by persecutors of the already mentioned above Project Crimine, on Jul. 13, 2010, and the connected Project Bene Comune (Common Good), on Dec. 14, 2010.
Within a couple of years, the mother-Locali of Siderno and Marina di Gioiosa Ionica were practically beheaded.
The first to be arrested, on the day of the operation Crimine, was Giuseppe “The Master” Commisso (cl. 1947), supreme boss of the mother-Locale of Siderno.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
In any case, in Calabria, the scenario outlined above would radically change about a year later.
The precise turning point began as Italian police made the arrests requested by persecutors of the already mentioned above Project Crimine, on Jul. 13, 2010, and the connected Project Bene Comune (Common Good), on Dec. 14, 2010.
Within a couple of years, the mother-Locali of Siderno and Marina di Gioiosa Ionica were practically beheaded.
The first to be arrested, on the day of the operation Crimine, was Giuseppe “The Master” Commisso (cl. 1947), supreme boss of the mother-Locale of Siderno.
Riccardo Rumbo, cl. 1962 (above), Capo of the Donisi ‘Ndrina, also called Rumbo-Galea-Figliomeni ‘Ndrina, one of the sub-units of the same mother-Locale of Siderno, followed on Dec. 14, 2010, as one of the main objectives of the Project Bene Comune. Successive investigations ascertained that, over time, his place in the organization had been taken by his son Santo, cl. 1989 (take note that, before the last arrest in Luxembourg within the Italian Project Canadian ‘Ndrangheta Connection 2, on Aug. 9, 2019, based on an interception, Santo, although still relatively young, would receive a new and very high rank of 'Ndrangheta right in Canada, where he had temporarily moved; a promotion probably obtained also thanks to the sponsorship of the Figliomeni brothers inside the Crimine of Siderno in Toronto area; see previous article here).
In the following two years, the arrests of other high-ranking members who had managed to make themselves fugitives also followed at a rapid pace.
It started in March 2011 with Antonio Galea, cl. 1962 (below), a subject always belonging to the Donisi ‘Ndrina.
The investigations of the Project Bene Comune made it possible to ascertain that he was the “Mastro di Giornata” ("Master of the Day"), an important position within a Locale which can only be granted to high-ranking members (the “Mastro di Giornata” deals with conveying, as a spokesperson, the orders and wills of the Capo Locale to his subordinates and, in the opposite direction, the news that the subordinates bring to the top of the Locale; thus a sort of filter to ensure distance, in case of ascertainment of responsibilities in court, between the boss and the actions of his subordinates).
During the press conference illustrating his arrest, the investigators pointed to Antonio Galea (above) as the current "regent" of the Locale of Siderno. Thus, with that operation the Locale of Siderno had also lost its temporary supreme boss.
Such situation would have led to the occurrence of an exceptional and unprecedented development, as ascertained by the Project Acero-Krupy, closed at investigation level in Sept. 2015: the Locale, or rather, to be precise, the Società (Society) of Siderno (the Locali with a particularly high number of high-ranking members acquire the status of "Society"), would have remained without a unified leadership, therefore without a Capo Società in charge anymore. From this moment the various ‘Ndrine in Siderno, as well as all the Locali scattered throughout Italy, Europe and other continents direct emanation of Siderno (on Jul. 31, 2009, Giuseppe “The Master” Commisso, during an intercepted dialogue, quantified their exact total number as follows: “[the Society of Siderno] is the largest in the province… it has a lot of countries…. it has ninety-six Locali”), all of them would remain free to act without giving account or requesting prior authorization for matters of particular importance to the mother-Society. However, a precise order valid for the 'Ndrine and Locali located in Calabria and throughout Italy had been dictated: to not attract the attention of the police forces and institutions in general considering judicial pressures were so high.
After Antonio Galea, it was then the turn of the three Aquino brothers, arrested in quick succession during 2012 in the following order:
❶ Rocco, on Feb. 10; the video of the stages of his arrest (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnNT9RJmIEs) is absolutely unmissable; it documents where he was hiding: respecting the rule of ‘Ndrangheta according to which a boss never leaves the territory under his control, he was located inside a secret attic above the ceiling of his home where he hid himself whenever the police came to look for him.
❷ Giuseppe (cl. 1962), on Aug. 12, at that time, a subject defined by the well-known Italian persecutor Nicola Gratteri as the “armed wing” of the homonymous ‘Ndrangheta clan; similarly to his brother Rocco, Giuseppe was hiding in an underground bunker, under the cellar of the mother's house (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zNtWKg4gV0).
During the press conference illustrating his arrest, the investigators pointed to Antonio Galea (above) as the current "regent" of the Locale of Siderno. Thus, with that operation the Locale of Siderno had also lost its temporary supreme boss.
Such situation would have led to the occurrence of an exceptional and unprecedented development, as ascertained by the Project Acero-Krupy, closed at investigation level in Sept. 2015: the Locale, or rather, to be precise, the Società (Society) of Siderno (the Locali with a particularly high number of high-ranking members acquire the status of "Society"), would have remained without a unified leadership, therefore without a Capo Società in charge anymore. From this moment the various ‘Ndrine in Siderno, as well as all the Locali scattered throughout Italy, Europe and other continents direct emanation of Siderno (on Jul. 31, 2009, Giuseppe “The Master” Commisso, during an intercepted dialogue, quantified their exact total number as follows: “[the Society of Siderno] is the largest in the province… it has a lot of countries…. it has ninety-six Locali”), all of them would remain free to act without giving account or requesting prior authorization for matters of particular importance to the mother-Society. However, a precise order valid for the 'Ndrine and Locali located in Calabria and throughout Italy had been dictated: to not attract the attention of the police forces and institutions in general considering judicial pressures were so high.
After Antonio Galea, it was then the turn of the three Aquino brothers, arrested in quick succession during 2012 in the following order:
❶ Rocco, on Feb. 10; the video of the stages of his arrest (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnNT9RJmIEs) is absolutely unmissable; it documents where he was hiding: respecting the rule of ‘Ndrangheta according to which a boss never leaves the territory under his control, he was located inside a secret attic above the ceiling of his home where he hid himself whenever the police came to look for him.
❷ Giuseppe (cl. 1962), on Aug. 12, at that time, a subject defined by the well-known Italian persecutor Nicola Gratteri as the “armed wing” of the homonymous ‘Ndrangheta clan; similarly to his brother Rocco, Giuseppe was hiding in an underground bunker, under the cellar of the mother's house (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zNtWKg4gV0).
❸ Domenico (cl. 1965), on Sept. 14, whose contacts and business with Canada were specifically mentioned during the press conference to present the arrest operation by the Carabinieri.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
This wave of arrests between 2010 and 2012 struck at different levels.
Firstly, at the level of the supreme bosses of the mother-Locali of Siderno and Marina di Gioiosa Ionica as well as Gioiosa Ionica since its Capo Locale, Antonio Ursino (brother of Giuseppe, of Bradford, GTA, in 2019 sentenced to 12 ½ years within Canadian Project OPhenix), had been arrested before all the others in March 2010. This new situation made it impossible to activate the typical mediation works in the event of disputes. A fundamental function pertaining only to the supreme bosses, who possess the necessary authority, in order to avoid continuous bloodshed among men of ‘Ndrangheta (in general, these types of actions must in fact be minimized as they tend to attract the attention of the police forces and damage business).
Secondly, also at the lower level of 'Ndrina (sub-unit of a Locale/Society). In this case, we refer in particular to Riccardo Rumbo, supreme boss of the Donisi ‘Ndrina.
Project Bene Comune documented an authoritarian intervention by the latter in order to smooth out conflicts between members of his 'Ndrina and, probably, the Locale of the Figliomeni brothers located in Toronto, distant component of the same Donisi 'Ndrina, also called, not by chance, Rumbo-Galea-Figliomeni 'Ndrina.
In this regard, the reconstruction of the Italian persecutors in Project Bene Comune is well known:
⦿ The Donisi 'Ndrina intends to launder money from its common fund by opening some public spaces where to place slot machines and allow illegal gambling in the Toronto area, evidently, thanks to the support, in loco, of the Figliomeni brothers (about ten years later, in 2019, Canadian Project codenamed Sindacato will reveal the impressive turnover generated by the management of this sector of activities by the Figliomenis).
⦿ But, “In particular, the opening of a bar, which probably took place in an area not of competence of the clan, threatened to thwart the economic interests of other criminal components in the Ontario Area”. As a rule, each Locale has its own territory of exclusive competence. It is therefore highly probable that even in GTA each Locale has its own within which the others can operate only with its prior permission (for example, to open a café); in absence, the firebombing is practically certain.
⦿ In this context, " ....disputes had arisen within the 'ndrina, between the FIGLIOMENI family, on the one hand, GALEA Antonio, GIORGINI Domenico and FIGLIOMENI Tito, on the other”.
⦿ At that point, Riccardo Rumbo intervened and ordered the cessation of any conflict in order to guarantee and not damage the "common good" (in other words: the business), an expression so evocative that it was used by the Italian investigators to name the Project they were working on.
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However, the long list of people arrested between 2010 and 2012 was partly compensated, at the end of this period, by a significant exception.
In December 2012, in Italy, after four and a half years of imprisonment under Art. 41-bis (the so called "hard prison regime"), thanks to an acquittal on appeal, Giuseppe Coluccio (above) was released.
When we talk about Giuseppe Coluccio, we refer to a very high-ranking member of the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, although always subject to his relative Rocco Aquino (there are wiretapping, dated 2013, documenting Giuseppe Coluccio's attempts to orchestrate, with much hoped help of a politician, an operation aimed at reducing on appeal the prison sentence inflicted on Rocco Aquino derived from Project Crimine: “… we can serve him [the politician] in all ways… if he helps us about this fact related to… to Rocco… we also sell our soul to the devil...”).
Take note that not only Giuseppe, but all the Coluccio brothers (Giuseppe, cl. 1966, Salvatore, cl. 1967 and Antonio, cl. 1969, who, while still children, found themselves orphans of their father Vincenzo, murdered during a ‘Ndrangheta feud in 1971) had solid ties with the Toronto area having moved there in the early-mid 2000s. A presence that had considerably strengthened the Locale of Toronto dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, before the respective judicial vicissitudes brought them back to Italy.
Vicissitudes that began with the arrest, on Aug. 8, 2008, of Giuseppe Coluccio himself, thanks to a joint operation of Italian and Canadian police.
Giuseppe was a fugitive since 2005 and included on the list of the thirty most wanted fugitives in Italy. Under false identity and being able to count on the support of his brother Antonio and Vincenzo Tavernese, he lived in a luxury condo on the Toronto waterfront and made himself known by driving equally luxurious cars.
The persecutors of Project Crimine listed some of the personal effects that were in his possession at the time of the arrest and in particular:
ü “a French driving license in the name of BERTOLOTTI Agostino, born in Rome on 10.02.1962, domiciled at 7 Rue Clement 38000 Grenoble, counterfeit because it bears his photographic effigy;
ü a holy card bearing the face of Jesus Christ and the words: “Death has you suddenly kidnapped from us, among the many sufferings you continued to give us hope. With your goodness and honesty as a man and a father you will guide us from heaven. A sweet memory and a sad prayer to the lips. I die but my love for you will never die. AQUINO VINCENZO” [father of the three aforementioned Aquino brothers] (of whom there is a photographic effigy on the front);
ü two sheets of paper written on the computer showing an accounting of large sums of money owed to him with an indication of the debtors;
⦿ HSBC - MASTER CARD credit card in the name of a woman;
⦿ HSBC - MASTER CARD credit card in the name of SCARFÒ Giuseppe;
⦿ other holy cards (including that of the Virgin Mary of Polsi) and sacred images, as well as some Canadian business cards and numbers marked on cards”.
Giuseppe Coluccio, at that time, was most likely the head of the internal "business unit" of the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica (the Italian persecutors will speak of “organization within the organization”) dedicated to the international drug trade. An organization that had been active for years with strong contacts at the highest criminal level, first of all, presumably, with Roberto Pannunzi, perhaps the most powerful and best known of all drug brokers on behalf of the 'Ndrangheta, but also of Sicilian Cosa Nostra (however, between 2004 and 2010, Pannunzi was locked up).
Nevertheless, an organization that, only about a month later (Sept. 2008), would have suffered a new big blow by the dismantling of one of its channels (probably the main one) used to supply the European market with cocaine shipments from the Americas (international police operation called Project Reckoning in USA and Project Solare in Italy). A drug trafficking centered on its own men operating in New York City, the Schirripa brothers, in business as cocaine suppliers with Mexican narcos belonging to the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas.
On May 10, 2009, it was therefore the turn of Salvatore Coluccio, arrested this time in Italy. Similarly to Rocco and Giuseppe Aquino, he was hiding in his home, more precisely in a cavity created in the laundry room behind a mechanical wall (see: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AdmMjTnEFI).
Lastly, in 2010, the youngest of the brothers, Antonio, voluntarily left Canada to avoid deportation by Canadian immigration, after living for 5 years with his wife and children in a million-dollar home in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto (A. Humphreys, on National Post, Jul. 19, 2018, provided a non-trivial detail of it: “The impact of his father’s legacy was clear to anyone who visited his home: through tall glass doors in his office on the ground floor, a five-foot-tall oil painting of his father glared down”). During his stay in Canada, Antonio Coluccio was in very close, almost symbiotic business relations with Vincenzo Tavernese.
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These investigations documented Giuseppe’s effort to regain the control of an organization that, entrusted to his brother Antonio, had plunged into chaos. Rules, roles and hierarchies had jumped and therefore it was foremost a matter of firmly resuming the reins of his crime group.
The persecutors of Project Acero-Krupy expressed themselves in these terms: “In particular, it was possible to confirm the alleged apical role covered within the association of the same name by Giuseppe Coluccio, promoter and organizer of the investigated mafia organization to whom would have been unquestionably recognized the authority to restore the internal hierarchies, identify future criminal orientations and ensure compliance with the 'Ndrangheta rules partly disregarded during his period of detention".
At the same time, Giuseppe was doing his utmost to restart his traditional and more profitable business, that of international cocaine trafficking. In his absence, the clan was in difficulty in supplying drugs evidently due to the loss of direct contacts with South American suppliers.
Fortunately for him, Luigi Mancuso, cl. 1954 (above), supreme boss of the very powerful Locale of Limbadi on the Tyrrhenian side (see Figure 1. in the previous article), intervened by helping him (they had met during a common period of detention). It would then have been Luigi Mancuso (also released from prison in 2012, after 19 years of uninterrupted imprisonment) to supply the loads of cocaine thanks to his contacts in South America (to understand the criminal depth of the Mancuso crime family from Limbadi in the context of the international drug trafficking, we report the following significant note contained in the “2008 Half-Year Report” of the Italian Direzione Investigativa Antimafia: “The Mancusos operate in the thriving sector of cocaine trafficking, where they have managed to acquire considerable weight, securing a privileged channel with the Colombian cartels, with the Spanish drug traffickers, reaching as far as Australia.”). From Brazil, the cocaine shipments would have been unloaded at European ports, except for the Italian ones that were too controlled by the police. The Coluccios would then take care of the storage and distribution in Italy.
Finally, according to the turncoat Antonio Femia (former belonging to the Locale of Gioiosa Ionica, that of the Ursinos), Giusepe Coluccio also planned to start trafficking cocaine through fruit, vegetables and panettoni companies from Brazil to Canada that would be landed at the port of Halifax. Halifax therefore, and not Montreal. Anything but a detail, as the mafia expert Antonio Nicaso explained in 2019: “For a long time the 'Ndrine have been "forced" to manage the port of Halifax, because in Montreal they would have to pay a quota to the Irish and the Rizzutos. The port of Montreal is certainly the main junction for the entry of cocaine in North America as an alternative to the southern route. ‘Ndrangheta has always had an interest in running that port. The Calabrians have never had a good relationship with Rizzuto and have always remained out of it.” (S. Pelaia, corrieredellacalabria.it, Jan. 25, 2019).
The Toronto Locali have never had the strength to conquer Montreal and its port. Nor it seems that one or more Locali of 'Ndrangheta directly supported the last attempt aimed at ousting the Rizzutos from the command of the Montreal Family through a series of murders (this last mafia war lasted approximately from 2016 to 2019). Although it was initiative of the Scoppa brothers, Andrea and Salvatore (in particular of the younger Salvatore, the less gifted of the two), subjects believed to belong to the "Calabrian faction", the real links of the two brothers with the Calabrian underworld residing in Montreal and Toronto have yet to be confirmed. After all, the final outcome of their attempt appears to provide pretty clear indications. Despite having caused serious damage in terms of human lives to the Rizzutos including the murder, on May, 27, 2016, of Rocco Sollecito (cl. 1948), who, at that time, was allegedly the absolute top of the family, the endeavor of the two brothers (probably at the head of a too small crime group, lacking necessary support, including external ones) ended with no escape for them (Salvatore, murdered on May 4, 2019; Andrea, on Oct. 21, 2019), without further, significant bloodshed.
However, during 2013, in full reconstruction of their clan, the Coluccios had to record the loss of a close ally in Canada.
Indeed, on Aug. 23, 2013, after the issue of a warrant by the Canadian immigration authorities, Carmelo Bruzzese, cl. 1949, was arrested at his Woodbridge home as a potential foreign national engaged in organized crime (on Oct. 2, 2015, Bruzzese was eventually forced to leave Canada and return to Italy where he was arrested by Italian police as soon as he landed in Rome).
Carmelo Bruzzese was a key mob figure. He had emigrated to Canada in 1974, but for decades he would commute to Italy, thus never cutting ties with the motherland.
In 2010, Project Crimine identified him as Capo Locale of Grotteria (a small municipality just a few kilometers from Siderno and Marina di Gioiosa Ionica) and a subject fully inserted within important dynamics of ‘Ndrangheta.
But it doesn't stop there. Over time, Carmelo Bruzzese had also acquired a kinship of considerable weight. His daughter Melina had indeed married Antonio Coluccio of whom Carmelo Bruzzese had therefore become father-in-law (note the typical use of matrimonial crossings aimed at establishing new family ties useful for strengthening the involved blood families inside the ‘Ndrangheta). It is therefore not surprising that, for example, two other sons, as we have already told, attended the great dinner organized by the Coluccios on Jan. 17, 2009.
Bruzzese had important criminal relationships in Italy but also in Canada, his land of partial adoption. In particular, about his relations with the Montreal Family (Rizzuto crime family), the Project Crimine’s persecutors described him: “…the referent of the "Calabrian cell" of the organization, closely linked to the top of the organization, in contact with Vito RIZZUTO's most direct collaborators and with the same boss before his arrest, which took place in Jan. 2004, as well as with leading exponents of the Calabrian organized crime.”
These documented relationships, inserted in a wider framework of clues, tend to exclude that a component of the Crimine of Toronto, the one dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, participated in, or supported in some way, the attack culminating in the murder of the old patriarch Nicolò Rizzuro in Montreal, on Nov. 10, 2010. An attempted overthrow in which however, unlike what presumably happened during the last war to take control of the Montreal Family (2016-2019) already briefly mentioned above, at least one Locale of Toronto dependent on the mother-Locale of Siderno (that of Salvatore Calautti) was allegedly involved including other players.
As we said, the Locale dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica instead presumably evaded a similar involvement as well as the Commissos who, despite also being from Siderno, thought it best not to compromise themselves directly and rather wait to know the final outcome of the armed confrontation.
In any event, the strong link of Carmelo Bruzzese with the Coluccios, and consequently with the Locale of Toronto dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, prevented him from proposing, or being proposed, as a credible mediator for the resolution of any internal conflicts within the 'Ndrangheta that could involve the Coluccio brothers.
Finally, according to the turncoat Antonio Femia (former belonging to the Locale of Gioiosa Ionica, that of the Ursinos), Giusepe Coluccio also planned to start trafficking cocaine through fruit, vegetables and panettoni companies from Brazil to Canada that would be landed at the port of Halifax. Halifax therefore, and not Montreal. Anything but a detail, as the mafia expert Antonio Nicaso explained in 2019: “For a long time the 'Ndrine have been "forced" to manage the port of Halifax, because in Montreal they would have to pay a quota to the Irish and the Rizzutos. The port of Montreal is certainly the main junction for the entry of cocaine in North America as an alternative to the southern route. ‘Ndrangheta has always had an interest in running that port. The Calabrians have never had a good relationship with Rizzuto and have always remained out of it.” (S. Pelaia, corrieredellacalabria.it, Jan. 25, 2019).
The Toronto Locali have never had the strength to conquer Montreal and its port. Nor it seems that one or more Locali of 'Ndrangheta directly supported the last attempt aimed at ousting the Rizzutos from the command of the Montreal Family through a series of murders (this last mafia war lasted approximately from 2016 to 2019). Although it was initiative of the Scoppa brothers, Andrea and Salvatore (in particular of the younger Salvatore, the less gifted of the two), subjects believed to belong to the "Calabrian faction", the real links of the two brothers with the Calabrian underworld residing in Montreal and Toronto have yet to be confirmed. After all, the final outcome of their attempt appears to provide pretty clear indications. Despite having caused serious damage in terms of human lives to the Rizzutos including the murder, on May, 27, 2016, of Rocco Sollecito (cl. 1948), who, at that time, was allegedly the absolute top of the family, the endeavor of the two brothers (probably at the head of a too small crime group, lacking necessary support, including external ones) ended with no escape for them (Salvatore, murdered on May 4, 2019; Andrea, on Oct. 21, 2019), without further, significant bloodshed.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
However, during 2013, in full reconstruction of their clan, the Coluccios had to record the loss of a close ally in Canada.
Indeed, on Aug. 23, 2013, after the issue of a warrant by the Canadian immigration authorities, Carmelo Bruzzese, cl. 1949, was arrested at his Woodbridge home as a potential foreign national engaged in organized crime (on Oct. 2, 2015, Bruzzese was eventually forced to leave Canada and return to Italy where he was arrested by Italian police as soon as he landed in Rome).
Carmelo Bruzzese was a key mob figure. He had emigrated to Canada in 1974, but for decades he would commute to Italy, thus never cutting ties with the motherland.
In 2010, Project Crimine identified him as Capo Locale of Grotteria (a small municipality just a few kilometers from Siderno and Marina di Gioiosa Ionica) and a subject fully inserted within important dynamics of ‘Ndrangheta.
But it doesn't stop there. Over time, Carmelo Bruzzese had also acquired a kinship of considerable weight. His daughter Melina had indeed married Antonio Coluccio of whom Carmelo Bruzzese had therefore become father-in-law (note the typical use of matrimonial crossings aimed at establishing new family ties useful for strengthening the involved blood families inside the ‘Ndrangheta). It is therefore not surprising that, for example, two other sons, as we have already told, attended the great dinner organized by the Coluccios on Jan. 17, 2009.
Bruzzese had important criminal relationships in Italy but also in Canada, his land of partial adoption. In particular, about his relations with the Montreal Family (Rizzuto crime family), the Project Crimine’s persecutors described him: “…the referent of the "Calabrian cell" of the organization, closely linked to the top of the organization, in contact with Vito RIZZUTO's most direct collaborators and with the same boss before his arrest, which took place in Jan. 2004, as well as with leading exponents of the Calabrian organized crime.”
These documented relationships, inserted in a wider framework of clues, tend to exclude that a component of the Crimine of Toronto, the one dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, participated in, or supported in some way, the attack culminating in the murder of the old patriarch Nicolò Rizzuro in Montreal, on Nov. 10, 2010. An attempted overthrow in which however, unlike what presumably happened during the last war to take control of the Montreal Family (2016-2019) already briefly mentioned above, at least one Locale of Toronto dependent on the mother-Locale of Siderno (that of Salvatore Calautti) was allegedly involved including other players.
As we said, the Locale dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica instead presumably evaded a similar involvement as well as the Commissos who, despite also being from Siderno, thought it best not to compromise themselves directly and rather wait to know the final outcome of the armed confrontation.
In any event, the strong link of Carmelo Bruzzese with the Coluccios, and consequently with the Locale of Toronto dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, prevented him from proposing, or being proposed, as a credible mediator for the resolution of any internal conflicts within the 'Ndrangheta that could involve the Coluccio brothers.
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In conclusion, the facts reported above describe the following situation in the period 2013 – 2014:
① Within the Locali of, or dependent on, Siderno and Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, only two top rampant bosses, Angelo Figliomeni and Giuseppe Coluccio, weren’t incarcerated at the time.
② Therefore, none at their criminal level, or above, could (or wanted to) promote or impose a peaceful mediation in the event of a serious conflict between them.
③ Due to the repeated arrests listed above, the Society of Siderno lacked a unitary leadership: every 'Ndrina in Siderno as well as every Locale scattered in Italy, Europe and other continents (“it has ninety-six Locali”) was free to act independently, without asking for prior advice or authorization from the top of the mother-Society.
In this criminal context that embraced the two sides of the Atlantic Sea (Giuseppe Coluccio couldn't go to Canada because he was subjected to police special surveillance), the clash broke out without anyone being able to interfere or avoid it.
Based on a circumstantial framework however not proven at judicial level, the Figliomeni brothers, having no longer anyone to answer for their actions, allegedly opened the hostilities. The result was a man left shot dead on the asphalt on Apr. 24, 2014. Victim of a single gunman, an individual of very high criminal level. Probably, the one who was Capo of the Locale of Toronto dependent on the mother-Locale of Marina di Gioiosa Ionica. A murder that shook the structure of the 'Ndrangheta in GTA from its foundations and which probably contributed significantly to cause an internal rift, still in existence, between the Locali of Toronto dependent on the mother-Society of Siderno and all the others (see previous article here).
(End of Part 1.)
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