Cosa Nostra News

"(Carmine) Galenti (sic) believes in rapid extermination of opposition and any who endanger his position of power. His associates fear him for his bad temper." -- FBI files .... Carmine Galante in 1947, when he was around 37 years old. You would have thought you were looking at just another innocuous, bespectacled, grandfatherly type if you had seen the 5-foot 5-inch tall, 60-something-year-old Carmine (Lilo) Galante examining the artichokes and tomatoes at Balducci’s in Greenwich Village or enjoying espresso and cannoli at De Robertis Pasticceria on the Lower East Side or dining at the Tre Amici Ristorante at 1294 Third Avenue. He reportedly also jogged along the East River path near the United Nations building and played handball at the YMCA (despite walking with a stoop). His daily routine also included being driven by a chauffeur each morning to L&T Cleaners at 245 Elizabeth Street, reportedly his base of operations. You would never think he was a man who could be in...

By Andrew Machin “ The criminal life of (members of the) ‘Ndrangheta is born and develops in the Locale. It’s for the economic interests and for the prestige of (their) own Locale that every single affiliate commits crimes. "-- Direzione Nazionale Antimafia, Yearly Report, December 2012 Michael (Big Mike) Leventis It is helpful to view the ‘Ndrangheta—the Italy-based organized crime organization with global reach—as an octopus, to borrow the metaphor used by turncoat Rocco Varacalli (see  ‘ Ndrangheta Governing Body in Greater Toronto Area: Latest Developments ), with its head located in Calabria, Italy, and its tentacles inhabiting various countries across the globe, including Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, and Canada. In some regions, it has more than one tentacle. The ‘Ndrangheta competes with rival criminal organizations wherever it has sought to plant a flag. Only in its home base, the southern Italy region of Calabria, does the group enjoy supremacy, with ...

By Andrew Machin " The ‘Ndrangheta is made like an octopus. The octopus has the head and tentacles. Today the head in Calabria can be [economically] stronger…. and tomorrow the tentacles may be stronger …" --Rocco Varacalli, government witness, ex-full member of a ‘Ndrangheta Locale of Torino (Turin), dependent of the mother-Locale of Natile di Careri, Nov. 2012. Giuseppe "The Master" Commisso The following in-depth analysis of the ‘Ndrangheta in the Greater Toronto Area was written by guest columnist Andrew Machin; to see Andrew's previous story on this same topic, please visit Gangsters Inc's: ‘Ndrangheta in Greater Toronto Area hit but still too powerful – “There are 9 (Mafia clans) of us” The latest Italian police operations against the mother-Locale of Siderno, Project Canadian ‘Ndrangheta Connection 1 and 2 (Jul. and Aug. 2019), has brought forth many results and has led to knowledge concerning the latest organizational developments reg...

EXPANDED Bonanno family associate Salvatore Russo, 46, copped a plea Thursday for using a Manhattan gelato shop to sell narcotics—and faces up to 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine. He plead guilty to distributing more than 500 grams—about $40,000 worth—of coke. Under terms of his deal with Brooklyn federal prosecutors, he will serve a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, which he can appeal if he gets slapped with more time. “He’s accepted his responsibility and hopes for the best,” defense lawyer Joseph Conway said outside court. The beefy wiseguy is reportedly a naturalized US citizen who speaks with a Sicilian accent He remains free on $500,000 bond pending his unscheduled sentencing. He was busted last year in a coordinated, cross-border crackdown on mobsters operating in both the US and Canada. He was indicted with reputed acting Bonanno captain Damiano Zummo, who was caught participating in a 2015 Mafia induction ceremony in Canada that was s...