Here is an excerpt from the book "La Chute du Dernier Parrain" book by Daniel Renaud

"The Italians are losing ground to the Hells Angels that they could never regain because currently, no one has the leadership to take it back. They have lost their credibility, added another police officer who requested anonymity.
He might add that the Hells Angels are part of an international organization that has chapters on five continents and in more than fifty countries. They are structured in an almost paramilitary manner, which gives them a superiority. In Quebec, in the summer of 2018, the Hells Angels could count on around 80 members at large, nearly 300 members of school clubs or sympathizers, not counting their employees who sell, for example, clothing bearing their image. In recent years, the police have noticed a greater presence of individuals of Italian descent among bikers. This may be a coincidence, but perhaps not."


Why are more Italians joining biker gangs ?
This makes me think of Giovanni Bertolo , he goes to jail, doesn't snitch and does his time. He goes back thinking that he could regain his territory or place of business ;but the Rizzuto organization gives that territory to someone else. He is left on his own and gets murdered for trying to make a living. Del Balso was also complaining that his family wasn't taken care when he did his time.
Furthermore, the likelihood of surviving is very low if you work for the mafia.
I can now see why more are joining the bikers.

That's a bunch of bullshit. The Hells Angels recently killed Francesco Del Balso for the Rizzutos, doesn't sound like the Mafia is taking a backseat to the Hells Angels to me.

As far as Bertolo not snitching, that's just common in Canada. Rarely does anyone flip over there. It's hardly even noteworthy. And as far as Del Balso goes, wasn't he in the news for gambling away $8 million dollars over a few year times span (which was really him laundering money!)? He apparently had money he shouldn't rely on others.

Here's a good question, if biker gangs are so much bigger and badder than the Mafia, then how come people here aren't making threads calling for the arrest of biker leaders like that one idiot who made that post calling for the arrest of Albert Vena?

How do you know for sure it was his money and not the organization money he was laundering.

I didn't take it from that statement that they are bigger and" badder" than the mafia . In some areas they are and other areas they are not. In Quebec there are many experts saying that the Hells are presently in a better position than the mafia and in Ontario that is not the case. More often than none both the Mafia and HA work hand in hand. The reason why the Hells have gained more more in Quebec is because the Italian have been at war for decades.

Same can be said in other parts of the world. The Ndrangheta is in all continents and in just as many countries. It doesn't mean because they are that they are in conflict with every other criminal organization.

nothing wrong with some critical thinking ciment. at times this site is where one can find some. keep it up. one has to think outside the box when discussing montreal. the HA are by far superior to the mafia in quebec in both total numbers and criminal territory and control. quebec is a huge province where the HA has near total dominance of a wide variety of rackets. what territory can the mafia claim total control of? mtl, r.d.p,laval? sharing most of this with street gangs. also the mafias reach in canada is not national. it has a presence in quebec and ontario mostly situated in mtl,laval,toronto and hamilton. the HA are coast to coast and have been for decades. the HA in quebec control drug market from top to bottom.

likely del balso was laundering the families money not his. and that laundering goes back to mid 2000's that info is not current. if it was why was he recently alleged to be extorting a church for payments. doesnt sound like a crime even a degenerate criminal would do, especially not one sitting on 8 mill.

with that being said what if i, the media and law enforcement are looking at this all wrong. what if the violence committed in the 2020's involving mtl mafia is not internal? what if it is a push on a very weakened mtl mafia that are not united under one leader and in no way holds the type of power it once did? a theory i have been pondering when this stagnant brain comes alive.

It was Arcadi and Nicolo Sr. that were running the organization back then. Both didn't have the charisma and leadership Vito Rizzuto had. The Bertolo situation was badly handled along with the D'amico case.
Both were big mistakes and initiated a rebellion against the Rizzuto organization.

Ciment, thanks for your replies. It could've been the organization’s money that he was laundering. Wasn't he allegedly killed for switching sides or betrayal? I think that bikers are more powerful in the streets, but I read in one article about the situation in Canada, the author said that they still need a well-polished and charismatic Mafioso the caliber of Vito Rizzuto to guarantee political connections and corruption. I think that that's where the Mafia and similar groups come in, they are more intertwined with business and politics.

Right on VitoCahill !

I honestly think that if the Mafia were that weak they would be talking already, if they were that weakened what more is there to lose? And what about the theory that the HA killed Del Balso as a favor to the Rizzutos? That would suggest that they are still doing the Mafia's bidding, meaning that the Mafia isn't subservient to them, if anything that would tell me it's the other way around. Also, what exact murders do you think was an attack on them rather than internal? And I'll say again, if biker gangs are so much more powerful, then all of these anti-crime preachers on this blog need to start petitioning for mass arrests of bikers instead of focusing so much on a very weak to nonexistent Mafia. Just saying.

The Sicilian mafia or clan in Montreal is still making good money but over the years HA gained more territories and power whereby the Italians lost some because of their own doing. Overtime, if they stop warring, they may gain some of it back but will not be as powerful as they once were. Those days are gone.

Your welcomed !

sorry was outside hosing down pool filter for the winter ...very satisfying.

the quebec police task force has had an investigation ongoing against martin robert and his close associates since 2021. the reason there has been no arrests or major indictments has to do with canadas terrible justice system, one that the HA and mafia lawyers know how to exploit. the authorities because of the supreme courts dubious jordan decision from years ago has forced the law to change the way they conduct there investigations. as of today the investigation is ongoing.

my previous post was about possible what ifs, i did not conclusively state thats what is going down, it was a theory. i have tracked the mtl mafia and more recently some HA chapters for awhile and first stated theories or reasons for violence have often in the passing of time turned out to be false. the same can be said for certain alliances in the past. that being said i do believe the mafia are outnumbered totally in quebec. its not even close. this mtl mafia is not the same powerful, unified, world recognized and wealthy as it was under the leadership of vito rizzuto. not even close. the RIZZUTO CRIME FAMILY under vito, and i know i will hear about it, eclipsed most east coast american mafia families. not the case now obviously. the mafia clans in mtl are mostly concentrated in one area of the province and always have been. i will call it montreal proper and laval. there power and influence does not extend into the many areas that the HA has control over.

the as of now accepted theory on the del balso hit was that it was indeed done by HA for the rizzuto/sollecito clan as revenge for attempt on leonardo. i did not dispute this. no shooter or shooters, drivers have been arrested or even a name/names mentioned.

Good summary Vito Cahill.

I agree with regards to the Del Balso hit.
I think it suited both sides. Rizzuto wanted his revenge and HA realized that he brought too much media & police attention.

FYI..............VitoCahill the book by Daniel Renaud also mentions that there are three or four mafia clans each having their own leaders. The Sicilian clan is lead by Leonardo & Stefano and unfortunately they do not mention who the other leaders are.

what is this book you speak of? and why dont i have it already?

Vito Rizzuto : "La Chute du Dernier Parrain" by Daniel Renaud. It is in French I haven't seen any English versions yet.

You guys may be right. Honestly I haven't been able to keep up with stuff like I used to when I had my laptop up and running and a lot of free time. I've been too busy grinding. One of these days I'll be able to do better research and ask better questions.

Former Italian "Mafia Princess" on how the 'Ndrangheta actually works ; "A stylized bird with an open mouth"

I wouldn't use Del Balso’s committing petty crimes as proof that he's broke. Mobsters never stop committing petty crimes. Undercover FBI agent Jack Garcia would talk about how Gambino captain Gregory DePalma would stuff cheap items in his underwear when they would go to the store. He would be like, "hey, whatta you doing?" DePalma would say, "hey, what can I say, that's what we do!"

true liggio, not conclusive. but again i think that info about money laundering is from the early 2000's. and although never convicted of such i do recall evidence stating that del balso was in charge of a group of 'smurfs' to launder large sums through the casino de mtl. likely came out in proj colisee trials. del balso's behaviour and attempted crimes after his release do look more like a man desperate to get back what he lost during time in jail. he did attempt another extortion of a small pizza place in qc city area as well shortly after getting back on street. media claims at that time 2017/2018 were that del balso was told to leave mtl area by figures unknown.

Wow, so he was basically shelved? I wonder what he did.

yeah that has never come out. there were threats on his life in person during a home invasion in 2017. del balso was not at home when this happened but his family was terrorized by a couple low level goons. i have also read it had to do with threats coming at anyone allied to rizzutos. this is the same time the scoppa brothers were at war with rizzuto/sollecitos so he may have fled on his own. there were also unconfirmed reports that arcadi, del balso and giordano wanted to reclaim there positions on top the mafia from the rizzuto/sollecito after serving colisee sentences. that info we know now was false as giordanos hit is confirmed to be done by the scoppa bros and not the rizzuto/sollecito camp and as yet francesco arcadi has been non existent in the melieu lately. and if you cant tell there is no shelf in montreal, you mess up and anger those in charge you end up like del balso did this year splayed out on a sidewalk. although i dont really see this method being the best or most effective way to discipline members.

I also wondered why Del Balso got in their bad side. The only think I found was the following appended statement from Nicaso.

“Francesco Del Balso, used to run the gambling for the Rizzuto crime family. He had the skill and expertise on this field. And he tried to carve out a space in the control of extortion and gambling, illegal betting this racket and end up clashing with the organization leaders,” said Antonio Nicaso“.

this scenario would also make alot of sense and is not unprecedented in the annals of crime. many cases of a member doing a stretch in the can and wanting or thinking they deserve a bigger piece of the action when released or the ability to return to old rackets. this was the case in montreal with giovanni bertolo in 2005 for an example.alot of the violence seems to continue to trace back to control of 'THE BOOK' and all the rackets surrounding it. so if del balso once controlled a good portion of it, as all evidence suggests, this wouldnt be surprising. further if del balso was the point man in this with backing from as of now unknown conspirators this also helps explain what ultimately led to his demise.

The control for the BOOK or BOOKS have caused a lot violence. It's almost as though it was the "Grail" lol.

Yep Andrea Scoppa claimed Arcadi/Del Balso/Giordano wanted to retake control of the book AND the family if I’m not mistaken

The Rizzuto Clan was actually a global powerhouse. If I remember correctly, they said that if Vito Rizzuto took a plane and flew to the United Arab Emirates, or one of those faraway countries, everyone important would know who he was and kiss his ass. John Gotti on the other hand, nobody would even give a fuck. I don't see how something so big and powerful could be so concerned with a lousy sports book, to the point of so many bodies dropping over it.

i guess the key word is 'was'. at there peak in late 90's up to V.R.'s 2004 arrest indeed a global powerhouse as you said. that was over 20 years ago alot has changed. and to the book it clearly is more than just a record of sports gamblers. from business or blood pg.166-167 about moreno gallos possession of it or parts of it and those he may have turned over to salvatore montagna.

"files referred to the records kept by major organized crime sports books, and gallo had run platinum for vito. a gamblers 'file' was made up of significant financial records, such as mortgages and banking information. it also included the names and addresses of a gamblers parents and other close relatives. this information would be carefully studied before the operators of a sports book determined how much, if any, credit he could be granted.the information also let the sports book operators know where to go calling if a gambler couldn't make good on his debts. that degree of financial diligence could be overlooked if the prospective gambler was related to someone of interest, such as a professional athlete. in those cases it was better for the gambler to run up a major debt, so that the books operators could suggest to the athlete that all would be forgiven in exchange for the fixing of a game or the provision of inside information on a team."-peter edwards and antonio nicaso.